Alternate Reality
by thekyuubivixen
Summary: Shadow had never been so confused in his life. Tails painfully shy? Knuckles apathetic toward the Master Emerald? Sonic...less pleasurable to be around than normal? Shadow expected a lot of things waking up from his concussion induced sleep...this was not one of them. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- Yeah…I'm not SEGA…or Sonic Team…**

**A/N- Welcome to my brand new story! Er…I don't know what else to say here…Oh right, warnings, those are important. This story is going to contain all kinds of cursing coming from a specific hedgehog, so watch out for that. Other than the foul language…there isn't anything else to note, so…go ahead and read the first chapter of this freshly made story! Go on, there isn't anything worth of interest up here anymore. Aren't you gonna scroll? Geez…bold letters really catch and hold people's attention…**

**Chapter 1- Prologue**

"Shadow! Duck!"

The Ultimate Lifeform immediately did so without any question, very narrowly dodging a missile that sailed over his head before hitting a tree, blowing the trunk into many pieces. Scowling, the ebony hedgehog swiftly spun around and Chaos Speared the red Eggrobo who had sent the mini-rocket. The hovering robot, now with a gaping hole in its middle, shorted out and fell down to the ground.

Shadow turned his head to nod thankfully at Rouge, which she returned before tornado kicking her own Eggrobo before it had a chance to attack. The ebony hedgehog focused back on the task at hand, getting rid of all of these pests. Dashing, he jumped up and bashed a robot's head in with his foot. Using that as a stepping stool, Shadow achieved a greater altitude and did the same to another Eggrobo, with his fists this time. Landing back on the ground with a thud, he sprinted toward a robot targeting Tails. After doing a 360 to get momentum, Shadow side kicked the machine, sending it crashing into another, both falling to the ground.

The two-tailed fox smiled in appreciation. "Thanks Shadow! I owe ya one!" Tails used his namesakes to give him some height, trying to find a weaker robot that would go down with a couple of his kicks.

After watching the kit fly off, he searched around for another target, locking on to a robo not paying attention to him, rather watching a specific echidna pound and smash its robot clones with ease. When he was about to give the Eggrobo the surprise of its mechanical life, a blue blur came in from the left and destroyed the robot in one hit. Uncurling from his spin dash, Sonic gave Shadow a competitive grin. "Gotta be faster than that, Shads!" Before the Ultimate Lifeform could respond to his doppelgänger's taunt, the blue hero dashed away in a flash, going to trash more of Eggman's robots.

Shadow sighed as he scoured the yard for anymore machines, finding one, he made scrap metal of it immediately without any effort. Skating around Tails' house, the ebony hedgehog tried to find any wayward robots, but he only saw the other Mobians on the property doing the same thing he was. Making sure that the threat was gone, Shadow asked the person closest to him. "Knuckles, did we get them all?"

The echidna nodded, rotating his shoulder. "Yeah, I think so. Me and the others searched all around the place, but the area's clear."

"Jeez, Red." Rouge said as she sauntered up to us. "You sound like you _want _to fight more robots."

Knuckles shrugged. "Hey, even though they're a nuisance…" He smirked. "…it's fun to smash them to pieces."

Tails laughed as he landed, making our little group grow by one. "Of course you would think that, Knuckles." He then pointed up to the sky, glancing at all of them. "Before we can relax, guys, don't you think we're forgetting something…?" The group followed the kit's finger and focused on a very gloomy Eggman sitting in his hoverchair, overlooking the area.

"I can't believe…" Eggman pounded his fist against his control panel, barely missing the steering mechanism. "I had _one hundred_ robots!" He gestured wildly at the now trash filled yard. "And they were nothing but _toys_ to you!"

Sonic, standing on the roof of the two-storied house, placed a hand on his hip. "Whatd'ya expect, Eggy? That you'll just stroll in and take the emeralds?"

The doctor scratched his head. "Honestly? Yes, I did."

The blue hero smirked. "And how did that work out for ya?"

The doctor glared at his nemesis before grumbling under his breath. Eggman then sharply turned his flying automobile around and started to head back to his lab to work on a new plan to obtain the two Chaos emeralds the rodent and his friends were hiding. He might need to bring more robots in the future… "Be ready next time, rodent!" He called back to the group, more specifically Sonic. "I'll be back and _will _get those emeralds!"

"Yeah, sure, Egghead." Sonic rolled his eyes and jumped down from the roof, landing without trouble. Shadow watched as he joined with him and the others. The hero stretched his back, cracking it. "Just to think that he interrupted me from eating my chili dog! I bet it's not even warm anymore…"

Shadow silently agreed with his rival. They all were out here for some time defeating all of the doctor's robots, putting a pause on their dinner. Sonic, evidently, was about to eat some chili dogs while the rest of the Mobians were going to enjoy a couple slices of pizza. Normally, Shadow wouldn't have gone for something so greasy, but Tails invited him and Rouge over for dinner. He accepted, not really doing anything at the time and didn't have any important plans in the near future.

The kit patted Sonic on the back sympathetically. "It's okay Sonic! I don't know if you've forgotten, but we do have a microwave."

"I know…" The rival was going back to the house, slumped over. "But it tastes different than it does when it's freshly cooked! You realize this, right?"

Tails chuckled at his brother's childish behavior and followed him. "If it's still edible, you'll eat it, am I right? Do I need to bring up the chili dog you ate after you dropped it on the floor?"

Sonic blushed embarrassingly before rushing into the house, calling back, "That never happened!"

Knuckles and Tails laughed loudly at the hero's reaction, trailing after their friend. Rouge giggled and walked forward a bit before gesturing Shadow to follow her and the others into the home.

He never made it.

Something was watching the whole interaction of the group from the shadow of the trees. It had witnessed the destruction of all of its 'brothers'. The lone Eggrobo stepped out of the shade and hovered as quietly as it could over to the one who did the most damage. Most of the hedgehog's friends were in the white house while the one still outside was facing away from it. The last robot got right behind its target and raised its missile launcher over its head, ready to bring it down onto the hedgehog's own, like the rodent did to its 'brothers'.

Shadow thought he had heard something strange behind him, but shrugged it off, thinking that it was the wind. How wrong he was. The Ultimate Lifeform identified the familiar hum of a jet pack too late before he felt a something hard and heavy hit him in the back of his head. Shadow was unconscious before he hit the ground, not hearing Rouge's shout and the sound of metal shredding, falling to the grass in a heap.

X

_Sometimes the line between dreams and reality is so blurred that one would think that they were one in the same, or even mistake one for the other._

X

The first thing Shadow realized wasn't that he was cold, wasn't that he was wet, and wasn't that he was in a room shrouded in complete darkness-

But it was the mind numbing fact that he couldn't _breathe_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- Che…I **_**wish**_** I owned these guys…**

**Chapter 2- Out of this world…**

In a normal situation, Shadow would tell himself to take deep breaths to keep himself from panicking. However, since he couldn't do that at the moment, the ebony hedgehog opened his ruby eyes to identify his surroundings only to find that he was looking through a substance that was faintly glowing a tinted blue-green color which surprisingly didn't hurt his eyes, given that the liquid wasn't water.

More than a little confused, Shadow glanced all around him before focusing on his own body when he couldn't see anything but a continuous darkness. Red irises just stared until his brain caught up to what he was seeing. When it did, he had to keep from gasping in shock, ultimately breathing in the substance he was currently _floating_ in. Shadow's distress steadily rose when he saw many different thin tubes coming out of his body, one even coming out of his nose.

The Ultimate Lifeform's heart rate increased dramatically, making his body crave for more oxygen. Knowing that he was going to have to take a breath of air soon, Shadow hastily pulled the wires out, wincing at the small sting of pain each tug produced. Small droplets of blood came out in time with the tubes, mixing in with the liquid surrounding the hedgehog.

When all of the wires were taken out, Shadow braced himself for the last one, for that one he could feel all the way down his throat. Reaching up with a bare hand, the hedgehog grabbed the tube and pulled, closing his eyes tightly at the uncomfortable and slightly painful feeling. Shadow could feel the plastic as it made its way up his windpipe and finally out into the open. He scowled at it before letting it go, making it float in the substance.

Now free from the former imbedded wires, Shadow reached forward and ran his black hands across the glass of the container. Furrowing his brow, the Ultimate Lifeform clenched his right hand into a fist, brought it back, and punched the glass as hard as he could, earning himself a small crack that he could faintly see. He frowned, frustrated at the substance slowing him down and at the strong glass preventing him from escaping. Lungs starting to burn, Shadow punched it again, expanding the crack. With one more hit, the hedgehog broke the container and tumbled out onto the floor. He landed on his hands and knees, taking deep breaths to get the oxygen he desperately needed into his system.

Careful not to cut himself on the scattered shards, Shadow picked himself up, standing barefoot in a puddle of the unknown liquid. He frowned when he felt the slightly thick substance drip off of him. The hedgehog held up his hand to his face, but the darkness was so complete that he couldn't see it. It also didn't help any matters that his fur is mostly the same color. He perked his ears only to hear absolutely nothing that gave away any hints to where he was.

Sighing, Shadow dropped his hand down to his side and heard the liquid fall to the floor in a constant dripping rhythm. It was going to take a while to get dry at this rate. Taking his focus off how wet he felt, the Ultimate Lifeform squinted his eyes and attempted to look around the room of unknown size he was currently in. Nothing but darkness met him until he found a small blinking red light to his immediate left at his waist level. Shadow squatted down to get closer and made out the word 'empty' as it blinked on and off every second. He was curious to what it was, but he had to turn on a light somewhere so he could make out the mystery machine.

Straightening back up, Shadow shuffled across the cold metal floor wanting to reach some kind of wall, wincing when he felt sharp pinpricks of glass, but because he wasn't reckless, they weren't driven deep into his foot. The ebony hedgehog held his hands out in front of him as he took more steps forward. It was not long until his fingers brushed against a cool wall, metallic like the floor. Glad that he was closer to solving this mystery, Shadow turned and started walking, right hand on the wall, guiding him. The hedgehog continued until he hit a corner. Turning left at a 90 degree angle, he kept on going for a while until his fingers drifted over something that felt like a switch. Without hesitation, Shadow flipped it and hissed when a white light painfully entered his retinas.

Blinking a few times to get used to the new bright, ruby eyes roamed the now small room, lingering on the container their owner busted out of. A heavy feeling of déjà vu hit Shadow when he took in the broken cylinder now identified as a cryogenic tank. Shaking off those bad memories, the hedgehog continued his examination of the grey room, more suspicious now. He zeroed in on the still blinking light before walking over to it to give it a second examination. The light was on a small screen on the front of a medium-sized white box. There was something like a huge propane tank sitting on top of the box with one single word on it written in black: oxygen.

Putting together the puzzle pieces, Shadow took a step back from the container, glancing at the blinking 'empty' light, to the black 'oxygen', to the cryogenic tank. The large propane tank that had oxygen was now empty. He couldn't breathe suspended in the liquid. Shadow bit his lip, horribly confused. How long was he in there? How did he get in there in the first place?

Closing his eyes, the hedgehog thought about the events before he found himself floating in the container. He was fighting robots at Tail's house and won, then he was about to go inside to eat dinner, then he got hit on the back of the head with something hard. What knocked him out? A robot not counted for maybe?

The Ultimate Lifeform snapped his eyes open, frowning in anger. This was no doubt Eggman's doing. He made them think that he was defeated, but then…

Figuring that he was going to deal with the doctor later, Shadow looked around the room, searching for a way out. His eyes then zeroed in on the metallic door beside the light switch. The dark hedgehog stepped lightly until he wasn't in any danger of cuts on the soles of his feet. Standing in front of the door, Shadow was about to slide it open when something in the corner of the room caught his eye. Pausing, he turned his head and his eyes widened as a result.

Over there sitting against the wall were his gloves, shoes, and even his inhibitor rings.

Thinking that it was too good to be true, Shadow glared at the spot for a moment before making his way over there. He nudged one of the shoes, seeing if there was a trap hidden somewhere that would go off. When nothing of that sort happened, Shadow picked up one of the gloves, examined it, and slipped it on. After adjusting the fabric, he put on the other one before slipping on his hover shoes. He tested them out and they worked fine. Finally, Shadow put the rings on his wrists. Although this was good news, it was also a bit disconcerting for Shadow. Why would Eggman leave these in the same room he was being held in?

Having a bad feeling in his gut, the Ultimate Lifeform went back over to the door which opened quite easily. Barely any force was put into it. Shadow was about to step out, but there were cardboard boxes in his way. Frowning, the ebony hedgehog pushed on the stack of boxes and was mildly shocked at how heavy they were. The tower started to tilt and it wasn't before long that the containers fell to the ground, shattering whatever that was in the cardboard. Shadow, not caring about any of the doctor's stuff, stepped over the remaining box that was at the bottom of the stack.

This room wasn't lit up either, but the light poured in from the room Shadow just came from so he could see the area clearly. It was some kind of storage unit. It wasn't huge, maybe a little bigger than the previous room. There were boxes stacked all over the place; some were turned over, spilling its contents which included a hodgepodge of items. It went from screws and wrenches to different medical supplies. Not taking interest in Eggman's weird collection of things, Shadow focused on the second most interesting item in the room: the window.

What he saw brought ice to his veins.

Breath hitching, Shadow quickly went over to the glass plane, in shock at what he saw. Before him weren't grassy plains or towering mountains, snowy fields or swampy forests, open seas or dry deserts…

Shadow saw stars. Millions and millions of stars.

The Ultimate Lifeform stood there, staring out into space. He saw the earth so close and the sun many light years away, lighting up the galaxy. However beautiful the view was, Shadow was two seconds away from having a full-out panic attack.

There wasn't any way…He just couldn't be…!

Tearing his eyes away from the sight most people would love to see, the ebony hedgehog zoomed over to the storage room door. He slid the door open with more power than necessary, making a noisy thud echo throughout the structure. Shadow didn't care. He had more problems at the moment. Well, looking at the very familiar halls of his past, he only had one problem, but it was _huge_.

Shadow, by unknown means, was back on the Space Colony ARK.

* * *

**A/N- If you're a bit confused, don't worry! There's going to be, more or less, an explanation next chapter to help some. Oh, and this isn't a time travel fic, just to let ya know. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- Owning these guys is like me owning Mars. Yeah, I don't.**

**Chapter 3- Voices of the Past**

Shadow growled under his breath as he skated around a corner to face another unfamiliar hallway. He had been looking for the past ten minutes for the pods of the vast structure so he could return to Earth. The hedgehog could've been on the planet as soon as he figured out that he was on the ARK, but he had somehow lost the Chaos emerald he had on him at Tails' place. He didn't know how, given that he concluded that Eggman hadn't done this to him. Sure, the doctor has had some schemes in the past that were a little out there, but what was the point of sending him into space? Shadow couldn't come up with any reason.

The Ultimate Lifeform muttered an explicative when he found yet another hallway he had never seen before. It was like the whole Space Colony was rearranged structurally. Shadow remembered that when he was here, he had ventured all around the place, memorizing the maze of walkways. Now, it seemed that everything was new to him, like this was his first time ever visiting.

Shadow was growing both agitated and a little desperate. The former because it looked like he was lost in these foreign walls of the place he should know the most. The latter because he needed to leave this place so he could get the answers to why he woke up in a capsule up in space. The Ultimate Lifeform went faster, knowing that he'll eventually find them somewhere.

The ebony hedgehog searched for five more minutes around the ARK until he saw something that he almost missed from skating right under the speed of sound. Braking, Shadow backed up and looked with curious eyes at the door that was noticeably bigger than the others that had gone by in a blur. Thinking that the pods were located in this room, Shadow slid open the door, turned on the light, and glanced around.

The room was huge and open. There were cabinets lining the walls with papers nearly spilling out of them. Standing alone in the middle was a desk with a comfortable looking chair behind it. Along the back wall were windows that showed the infinite universe. Shadow immediately recognized this room. It was Professor Gerald's main office.

Keeping certain memories at bay, the hedgehog walked slowly up to the desk, placing his gloved hand on top of it. Unlike the structure of the Space Colony, this room was exactly the same as he remembered it, as many times he'd been in here. Looking up at the windows across the way, Shadow went around the desk only to find one of the six drawers open. It was empty. The ebony hedgehog shrugged, not taking interest in the empty space, and took a step forward. He paused however when he heard a crunching sound.

Looking down, Shadow just stared before backing off the blood soaked stack of papers, eyes widened at their fullest. Pulse racing, the Ultimate Lifeform squatted down to get a closer look. He could read the only paper that wasn't completely covered with the red substance. He made out a date fifty years ago and a couple of letters at the top of the sheet.

_"Pr-j-t Sh-d-w"_

The hedgehog's brain automatically inserted the right letters, coming up with 'Project Shadow'. He reached for the paper layered with dried blood only to stop when something glinted in the light to his left, catching his attention. Turning his head, Shadow eyed a voice recorder in better condition than the paper. Thinking that the piece of technology would tell him what happened here, he grabbed the recorder and placed it on the desk. Taking a deep breath, Shadow pressed the button, hearing only static at first. Then, something akin to panting was heard coming from it. Shadow crossed his arms and stood by the desk, perking his ears. Then, there was the sound of a door slamming.

_"I knew it. I absolutely knew it!"_

Shadow's heart skipped a beat. That was the Professor's voice. Why was he out of breath? What was going on? Shadow, more tense than before, listened for more information.

_"This...this is going to be my last recording for a while, until things settle down."_

The hedgehog glanced at the recorder with suspicion. He had never heard or seen the Professor make a recorded journal. Maybe Gerald did it when Shadow was with Maria. That's the only thing he could think of.

_"The reason being that the GUN soldiers are coming." _There was the sound of a drawer opening and the shuffling of papers.

Shadow gave a shifted glance over to the papers on the floor, different conclusions popping up in his head at once. All of them bad. Shaking his head, Shadow pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, continuing to listen to the recording.

_"They will be in the Space Colony in only a matter of minutes. I knew they would come; there was always that voice in the back of my mind warning me about them...and I listened to it. I always ignored the things the other scientists working with me would say, 'Stop being so paranoid,' or 'You're worrying too much,' or 'The government won't come up here. Why do you fret so much?'" _Shadow heard more papers being shuffled and a long-winded sigh. _"Gah...I need to get all of these worksheets for future tests...I should have enough time. It's not going to take me long at all to go to the pods. Plus, Maria's already there preparing one. Brave girl...going there by herself in such an emergency..._

"What?!" Shadow yelled at the device, knowing full well that it wouldn't answer him, but he continued anyway. "Alone? Why is she alone? I should be there with her!" Exhaling deeply, he calmed his nerves and collected his thoughts. Yes, he remembered the GUN soldiers, but he also recalled being by Maria's side through all of it. The events he remembered and the events happening here just didn't add up.

_"I'm going on a tangent...it's the stress caused by all this, I tell you. A way to perfectly phrase this situation is 'when it rains, it pours'. The government is here and I can't even take my project with me. It hadn't finished absorbing Chaos energy from the Chaos drives in the machine next to it, so it has to stay in the cryogenic tank a while longer. It's too bad, I thought it would make a nice little friend for Maria on the ARK...anyway, since we can't exactly wait for it to finish, we are going to have to leave it here. This is where my paranoia helped the situation. I've hidden the tank, a superfluous amount of oxygen, and the other necessary supplies in a room barricaded by seemingly harmless cardboard boxes. _

The room was tensely silent except for the dialogue coming from the recorder.

_"Heh...they will never look in there. Also, I left a pair of cloth gloves along my genius invention, the hover shoes. Hopefully it will find a use for them. Ah, I also left a pair of inhibitor rings to control its Chaos energy. I need it to be smart enough not only to put those on, but to also use one of the pods to escape down to Earth where I will be watching and waiting from a safe place down there, hiding from GUN. I'm just praying that its arrival won't attract unwanted attention."_

Shadow's mind reeled from all this information, but couldn't process it correctly. He didn't ever meet-he never got out of the...What?

The ebony hedgehog was thrown out of his jumbled thoughts when a loud crash came from the device. _"I've found him, men!" _There were multiple footsteps and the sound of guns cocking. _"On the order of the Commander, you will come with us Professor for your involvement in 'Project Shadow'. _There was a pregnant pause. _"Don't you dare think about running, Professor. You don't have anywhere to go. Your exit is blocked. Don't make us use drastic measures like we had with your granddaughter." _Both Gerald and Shadow gasped, the latter revisiting his long suppressed past. _"She pulled a gun out on us. She was a threat."_

The listener had to lean on the desk to compensate for his muscles almost giving out on him from the shock. Maria? Sweet and innocent Maria...wielding a gun? W-When? H-How?

_"You-you monsters!" _Gerald's voice was strained, cracking with blatant sadness. _"I will never go with you! Maria's...gone..." _Shadow heard a faint sniff. _"You took her away from me...You all are insane if you think I'll just go with you!" _The Professor was yelling now._ "Shoot me! End my life here and now! That's the only way you'll ever get me to leave this room!"_

There was a low growl. _"If that's what you want...Open fire, men!"_

_"Wait! Sir, aren't we supposed to capture him?"_

_"The Commander never said take him alive. Don't ignore my order! Fire!"_

Shadow visibly flinched when he heard bullets as they shot out of guns going for their target. The loud noise finally stopped and a body hit the ground with a thud. There were footsteps and then the sound of a body getting dragged across the floor. The Ultimate Lifeform glanced up and, for the first time, saw a faint trail of blood leading out of the room.

_"Dispose of the body! We'll report this back to the Commander after we find that project of his and destroy it."_

There was nothing coming out of the recorder except static now.

Shadow put his face in his hands, doing all he could do from breaking down from being reminded slightly of his history. He paused and straightened up quickly, eyeing the device now with distaste. That was it. None of this happened fifty years ago. None of it. The Professor wasn't paranoid...Maria could have never pointed a gun at someone, no matter who they were...

...and he was _alive_ then.

Scowling, the hedgehog picked up the device and threw it hard against the wall, smashing it to pieces. He looked down at the puddle of red paint. Because that's what it was, and nothing else. Someone was playing a trick on him. Somehow imitating the Professor's voice, getting actors to be the GUN soldiers, placing him in the tank...this all had to be some kind of trick. Somebody had wanted him to go crazy, or break down from the memories, but didn't get it right. They almost succeeded...

Done with this room, Shadow skated out into the hallway and blazed down it and other countless halls, continuing his search of the pods with more fervor. He needed to get out of here so he could get some answers from the others that were at Tails' house. They should have seen what happened. Wait, unless they were here too. Shadow shook off that idea. He would've heard the Faker's sonic booms around the place if that was the case. He looked around at the blurred walls. Now that he thought about it, this couldn't be the ARK either. There was no way. The maze he was currently in wasn't the place he had known. All he knew was that whoever did this had a messed up mind and too much time on their hands.

Twenty minutes passed and Shadow finally found the pods. Not wanting to spend anymore time in this Colony, he jumped in the closest one and set its course. When the pod separated from the 'ARK' and lowered itself towards Earth, the hedgehog only hoped that he landed safely. Having nothing else to do, he gazed out into space, soaking in the view to distract his brain from the irrefutable fact that...

...the office and pod room reeked of blood.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- I have a better chance of surviving on the sun than owning Sonic and co.**

**Chapter 4- Stranger**

A pink and orange sky covered a serene beach that was completely empty. White wispy clouds floated in the colorful blanket of the heavens, being guided by the breeze. Gentle waves rolled over the soft sands of the rarely visited vacation spot. The reason for its unpopularity was that it was right by a large cliff face that hid the mini-paradise. Even if someone would find the place, they weren't brave enough to make it down the crumbling rocks to the vacant beach.

The spot where cool waters met warm sand was about to have its first visitor in weeks. The last one was only there for a second to admire the view before going away as fast as the wind itself. That person's footsteps were erased from existence by the crashing waves as soon as they left. This new comer wasn't like the others; however, they came in from the waters, not from the cliff behind the paradise. No one had ever done this before. This was a first.

An ebony hedgehog washed up on the beach, coughing up some salt water that he had inhaled on accident. Hacking the rest of the foreign substance out of his system, the Ultimate Lifeform slowly got up on tired legs. Standing straight, he dusted the sand off his coat, making the grains join with the others at his feet. After successfully cleaning himself off, Shadow shook a bit, wanting to get as dry as possible. When he got rid of most of the droplets, the hedgehog turned around and looked at the sea he just came from.

Luck was a major factor in Shadow's survival. Without it, he would've been in a predicament similar to before when he first left the ARK, maybe even worse. The pod he was in thankfully hit water and not land, then the structure was waterproof, also Shadow knew how to open the escape latch with little difficulty, and finally, where he landed wasn't too far away from land that he could swim to.

The distance wasn't short, though, explaining his tired and over-used muscles in his arms and legs. Shadow, when he was straining himself to keep standing, sat down on the warm grains of sand. He wrapped his arms around his knees and just stayed there, staring at the waves that barely reached his shoes. The ebony hedgehog thought about how, when, who, and why, but couldn't come up with answers to any of those questions. Frowning, Shadow watched as the sun slowly slipped under the horizon, darkening the sky gradually as it did so.

Then, unexpectedly, something far in the distance in the sky floated harmlessly in front of the sun. Squinting his eyes, Shadow tried to make the object out. He recognized it after a couple minutes. It was Angel Island. The flying mass instantly reminded the hedgehog of a certain echidna and he briefly wondered if Knuckles was back up there or if he had spent the night at Tails' place like he did on occasion. Shadow watched the island until it got too far away and disappeared, fading in the distance.

When he deemed himself ready to move again, the Ultimate Lifeform stood up on sturdier legs and tried out his hover skates, hoping that they still worked. Shadow sent a bit of Chaos energy to them and they activated perfectly. Good thing that the Professor was thinking of everything when he made these. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, the hedgehog tore his gaze off of the view and turned to the giant façade in front of him. It spoke a silent challenge that Shadow in no way was going to pass up.

Skating unhurriedly at first, Shadow gradually picked up speed heading toward the ledge. When he got close enough, he used the power of his legs and shoes to jump up high and latch onto the face. His gloved hands each gripped a jutting out rock while his feet were in footholds. Furrowing his brow in concentration, the Ultimate Lifeform slowly but surely made it up the façade. At the very top, he crawled over the ledge before resting on his stomach in the grass for a moment, his muscles tensing again from the strain.

Gritting his teeth, he willed himself back up. Looking around at his surroundings, Shadow saw grassy hills for miles and miles. Focusing his sharp eyes, he noticed that the landscape actually leveled out on the horizon. The Ultimate Lifeform crossed his arms and stood there, thinking about his situation. He had no idea where he was. He could be literally anywhere on Earth. Shadow didn't recognize the place he was now, but maybe he wasn't too far away from somewhere that he found familiar.

Sighing at this inconvenience, the hedgehog sent Chaos energy down to his shoes to activate them. Without any hesitation, he skated off, leaving a trail of singed blades of grass behind him. Shadow wasn't going full speed as he traversed the hills so he could keep an eye out for anything he had seen before.

When he got to the flatter terrain, he stopped to take a look around. There was nothing but smooth plains with scattered trees. Shadow noticed that the shadows were getting longer and he scowled. The ebony hedgehog hoped that he would have come across some type of civilization or have seen any hints of one, but there was nothing out here.

Shadow was about to move again to search for anything familiar when he heard a soft noise that seemed out of place in this setting. Perking his ears, the Ultimate Lifeform stilled and listened to prove that he didn't just image the sound. It was quiet in the area for a while; Shadow, after standing for a minute, blamed the noise on the wind and got ready to continue on his way when he heard it again. It was a snore.

Black furred ears went crazy trying to pinpoint the source. Ruby eyes searched the area and when they didn't find anything, Shadow went up the trees and walked around them. He circled about five plants until someone snored again. Zeroing on a tree he hadn't went up to yet, the hedgehog walked over to it, knowing that the sound was coming from here.

Shadow peered around the trunk and was surprised when he recognized the person on the ground, leaning his back on the wood. His gloved hands were linked behind his back and his legs were crossed. The sun's cooling rays shone on his sleeping face. Shadow stood in front of the resting Mobian he was thinking about not too long ago.

It was Knuckles.

The echidna's mouth was open with drool slightly coming out of it, soft snores filling the air. Even though it was a seemingly normal sight, Shadow wondered why the guardian was out here. Knuckles didn't usually rough it like this, as far as the hedgehog knew. He was either at Angel Island or Tails' house. He'll get to the bottom of that later, but first, Shadow had to find out what happened to him.

He nudged the echidna on his red leg. "Hey." Knuckles shifted a bit, grunted, and fell back into the hold of sleep. Shadow sighed in exasperation at the guardian's behavior. He kicked the other's leg harder, but not enough to cause pain. "Knuckles, get up."

The red Mobian actually showed signs of waking up. The echidna yawned widely and stretched before blinking his violet eyes open. They immediately focused on Shadow and his whole body tensed. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't give him a chance to say a word.

"Knuckles, I need to know what happened to me." Shadow glanced over to the direction he came from. "I woke up floating in a tank on some warped copy of the ARK. I escaped, of course, but I don't understand why someone would do that and go to such extreme measures to mess with my head." He looked up to the sky. "The last thing I remember before waking up was that there was something hitting me hard on the back of my head. Do you know…what…happened…"

Looking back down at him, Shadow trailed off in his sentence when he took in Knuckles' face. His brow was furrowed, his lips were set in a confused frown, and he was looking at the hedgehog like the black Mobian was crazy. Knuckles' expression stayed like that until he moved his mouth to speak.

"Dude…who are you?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- If I owned the Sonic the hedgehog characters…there would so much…I could do… Like, for example, Dark Sonic would have shown up many times other than just once in Sonic X.**

**Chapter 5- Amnesia…or something else?**

The two Mobians stared at each other, non-blinking. One was eyeing the other with a mix of confusion and caution. The other was completely flabbergasted, caught off guard, thrown for a loop…in other words, completely and utterly shocked. Of course none of this showed on the outside, he seemed calm and collected looking down at the echidna, gaze level. After a couple of seconds of the tense and slightly awkward silence, Shadow finally found his words again.

"You…don't know who I am?"

Ruby eyes watched as the guardian stood up and crossed his arms, giving the black hedgehog a once over. Violet orbs eventually landed on Shadow's face, but no recognition shone within them. "No. I can't say that I do." He leaned back on the tree trunk and scratched his nose. "But I'm wondering how you know me. I don't familiarize myself with a ton of people and my memory isn't so shot that I wouldn't remember you."

Shadow copied the other's stance and set his lips in a thin line. "I'm Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform. Does that ring a bell?"

Knuckles frowned and shook his head. "No. Look, man, have we actually met before? Because it seems like you are at least comfortable around me when I'm looking at a complete stranger I know next to nothing about."

The black hedgehog furrowed his brow before pacing back and forth in front of the echidna. Shadow sighed and rubbed his temples. Purple eyes followed every movement with amusement present underneath all of the uncertainty. The hedgehog muttered under his breath as he moved, but Knuckles didn't hear any of it. Wanting some information, he spoke up, "Are ya gonna say that louder? Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" The question was asked lightly with no hostility whatsoever, but Shadow still glared at him for interrupting his thoughts. The guardian shrugged the piercing gaze off.

The Ultimate Lifeform kept on pacing as he began to talk aloud. "If you must know, I was trying to come up with some conclusion to what happened to you."

Now Knuckles was the one who was shocked. "What happened to me? Dude, I was the one here minding my own business when you came over and woke me up! Something's wrong with _you_."

Shadow ignored what was said and continued to speak his thoughts. "You must be suffering from amnesia of some sort. That's the only logical reason why you wouldn't know who I am. But how?" He paused midstride to look at the other, gazes meeting. "Did you fall off Angel Island or something of that nature?" The ebony was definitely not expecting the echidna to start chuckling, if his widened eyes were anything to go by.

Finishing his laughing fit, Knuckles focused on the hedgehog with a grin on his face. "Angel Island? I don't even remember the last time I was up there."

Small warning signs were going off in Shadow's head. "Why haven't you been? There isn't anyone guarding the Master Emerald now from Eggman."

Knuckles waved him off and watched the sunset with a small smile. "Who would want to watch that stupid rock twenty-four hours, seven days a week?" He shrugged. "I tried it for a while, but it was just too much work. Staying alert at all hours isn't as easy as you think. I'd rather just lay around and have no real responsibly." Those warning signs were blaring now, nonstop. "Also, you don't have to worry about Eggman."

Shadow, knowing that something was very wrong here, avoided the main subject and strayed to a minor one. "Why don't we have to worry about him?"

Knuckles gave the hedgehog a shifted glance. "He hasn't been around for a while." He answered broadly. Had this guy been living under a rock, or something?

The Ultimate Lifeform accepted that, not really worrying about the doctor at the moment. Knuckles was the more pressing matter. Something was definitely wrong with him. He not only had amnesia, but for him to completely disown the Master Emerald too? Was this caused from one of the fox's machines going haywire? If one had, it wouldn't really be surprising for it happened many times before.

Deciding that getting more information from Knuckles would be unproductive, he wanted to know where he could find a certain two-tailed fox. "Where's Tails? Maybe he's the reason you're like this."

Knuckles was about to chastise Shadow for criticizing his personality, but then the name sank in. "Who's that? Am I supposed to know who that is too?"

The hedgehog cursed under his breath. He thought that this might happen. Knuckles' mind was a blank slate, after all. Shadow tried another approach. "You probably don't know him by name," Or if at all; however, this was his only option. "but have you seen a yellow fox around here?" The raven raised his hand up to his shoulder. "He's about this tall."

Knuckles blinked, racking his brain, but not coming up with anything. "Nope."

Shadow tried again. "He has two tails."

Something clicked in the echidna's head and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I think I know who you're talking about now. He's a little kid with tuffs on the top of his head?"

The hedgehog nodded, glad that he was one step closer to fixing whatever was wrong with Knuckles and finding out why he woke up in outer space. "Yes, the very same. Where do you think he is right now?"

"I dunno. Do I look like a babysitter to you?" Shadow scowled and the echidna held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Chill, man. No need to get so angry. I don't have a clue where he is at the time, but I saw him last walking around in Station Square."

Shadow's ears perked up at the familiar name. He was close to the city, that's good. The hedgehog would use that as a landmark to find his way to Tails' home. "What direction is it?"

Knuckles started to point, but stopped, looking at the hedgehog warily. "Hey, you never told me if we had met before."

The other sighed. "It doesn't matter right now. Where's the city?"

"Ya don't have to be so grumpy." The echidna pointed to his right. "It's that way, about a three hour walk from here."

"Only that long?" Shadow faced that direction, getting ready to skate. He knew that no matter how fast he traveled, he was going to arrive in Station Square when it's completely dark. Shadow knew which way to go to the fox's house from there. The Ultimate Lifeform will probably have to wake up the occupants, but they won't mind when they find out what's going on. "That's not very far away from here."

Knuckles stared at the other oddly. "What do you mean? Didn't you hear me? I said three-" He's cut off when Shadow blazed away, skating in the direction the former guardian was still pointing to. The echidna blinked, slowly lowering his hand. When the black dot disappeared over the horizon, a small snort escaped his lips. "Shadow's just like him, huh?" The red Mobian sat back down and leaned against the tree again, in the same position as before. Violets took in the various shades of warm colors radiating from the sinking star. It was only a matter of time until the entire sky would go dark.

With half lidded eyes, Knuckles thought about the stranger he had met only a couple of minutes ago. He couldn't get it out of his head that the black hedgehog was very similar to another the echidna knew. Knuckles yawned, ready to nod off again.

At least Shadow wasn't a pain to be around.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- I don't own the Sonic the hedgehog characters, but I **_**am**_** saving up my pennies so I can hopefully buy a certain blue hero one day. And maybe get an Ultimate Lifeform as a bonus…**

**Chapter 6- It's right…here?**

Shadow huffed as he shifted his weight side to side, strong legs propelling him forward. Arms moving in synch, the hedgehog moved quickly as he traversed the landscape, expertly weaving around any obstacle in his way. Ruby eyes shone in the moonlit darkness, not once straying from the direction their owner wanted to go.

Scorching the blades of grass behind him, Shadow skated with haste in the direction Knuckles said Station Square was located. That was approximately thirty minutes ago. With him going just under the speed of sound, the Ultimate Lifeform assumed that he'll get to his destination in less than five minutes.

His prediction rang true for about five minutes later, Shadow went up a gentle grassy incline that drops down sharply on the other side. Keeping himself from taking a tumble down the hill, he skidded to a stop and took in the city in front of him.

Even though it was clearly nighttime, there were still people walking casually down the street lamp lit sidewalks, enjoying the slightly cooler air. Buildings were everywhere standing tall, looming over the city; they provided their own light from the lit offices where workers were just starting their night shifts. Black furred ears twitched as a loud noise entered them. There was a club right at the edge of the city, neon lights and up-beat music escaping the building every time its doors were open, which was often.

Knowing without a doubt that this was Station Square, Shadow tore himself away from the sight and turned to the right. Narrowing his eyes, he took in the terrain in the distance before nodding to himself. Tails' house was that way.

Without another glance at the metropolis indulging in its nightlife, the hedgehog skated away from Station Square, causing a sonic boom that resonated throughout the air.

Down in one of the back alleyways of the city, a shadowed figure paused in what he was doing when a very familiar sound reached his ears. He stood still for a moment, seeing if he had imagined the noise. When it didn't happen again, he shrugged and returned to the trembling body in front of him who was nursing a bruised stomach. Sneering, the figure stepped closer, revealing a blade that glinted in the moonlight. The shaking body let out a whimper at the sight.

The one holding the knife got even closer, glaring down at the other. "What should I do? What's the perfect punishment for tripping me up when I was in a dead run?" The speaker raised his unoccupied hand up to his face, touching the fresh and raw scrape on his cheek. He was still recovering from the rough tumble.

"P-Please d-don't! It w-was an acci-"

"I don't give a shit, you _freak._" The assailant growled out, cutting off the other.

"I'm s-" The victim screamed, interrupting his own apology, as the sharp blade sliced his leg. It was shallow, but it was enough to cause severe pain.

The figure then backed up, tucking his bloodied weapon out of sight. After staring at the terrified body on the floor for a second, he turned his back on the other. "That was only a taste. You better hope that you won't bump into me again." He strolled away from the frightened shape still huddling in the corner, not caring in the slightest about him.

Whistling a random tune, emerald eyes shone in the artificial light as he walked out of the alley, going along his merry way. The pedestrians on the sidewalk were sure to give him a wide berth.

* * *

Shadow went across flat land before hitting a dense forest, but it wasn't so compacted that he couldn't maneuver around in the foliage. After side-stepping and performing some spin dashes to cut through some thick vines, he finally reached the small clearing where Tails' house was.

Or were it was supposed to be.

Stepping past the tree line, the hedgehog searched the area with wide eyes. Nothing, absolutely nothing was here. The clearing was perfectly clean of any manmade objects. The ground was unharmed, like there wasn't ever a house there at all. But that couldn't be right, could it?

Completely confused, Shadow went up to where the house was supposed to be standing and held his arms out in front of him. Waving them around, he took a step forward only to frown when he didn't touch anything solid. Was it such a weird idea that he had to see if the structure itself was invisible? Not to Shadow. Doctor Eggman could have retaliated from his loss and zapped the home with a ray. He had built weirder inventions.

Crossing his arms, the Ultimate Lifeform examined the field again, making sure that he was in the right place. He should be; his memory was excellent and he had visited the fox enough times to remember the way here. The area was very familiar and Shadow recognized it to be where he fought the Doctor's robots, so why wasn't the house here?

Growing increasingly befuddled, Shadow began to pace back and forth, keeping himself from pulling his quills out because of this new development. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he organized his thoughts. Okay, the house wasn't here. Was it possible that the fox didn't like it anymore and had someone to tear it down? He shook his head, not likely. Plus, it couldn't have been done so fast. They had just been inside the house. Wait…

Shadow stopped in his tracks and stared up at the starry sky. _Was_ he inside eating dinner not too long ago? He had no way of knowing. He didn't know the time frame from when he was knocked out to when he woke up in that tank. It could only have been a couple of days, or a couple months. Any of those could be possible.

The hedgehog furrowed his brow and frowned at the moon when another thought came to mind. Why didn't anyone save him from the fake Ark? Were they just sitting here, while he was up there? Anger built up in his chest, but he immediately squashed it with common sense. They probably didn't because they couldn't. One didn't just have a rocket ship ready for a random space excursion.

Shadow ran his gloved hands down his face before letting them fall to his sides. A sigh escaped his lips. What was he going to do now? He wanted to get some help for Knuckles and some answers from Tails, but he didn't even know where the fox was. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't know where to start looking for the house the kit was currently living in. Grumbling under his breath, he streaked away, heading back to the place he just came from.

On the outskirts of the city, Shadow yawned before making his way toward his apartment in the less populated part of Station Square. Sleep wasn't a necessity, but he wanted it now. All of the previous events had just taken a toll on his brain and he just wanted to lay down in his bed. He'll continue his search for Tails, or, at this point, any of his friends tomorrow.

When Shadow got to his apartment's door, he realized that he didn't have his key. He had lost it like the Chaos emerald. Sighing yet again, the hedgehog went to the main office to ask if management could spare him an extra key. When he stepped into the office, every person, young and old, who were in there froze at the sight of him. Shadow glanced at them warily and noticed that they were trying their hardest not to make eye contact. With his guard up, he bypassed them and went to the front desk where the manager was shivering in his boots.

Shadow, not sure what was going on, just ignored the peculiar behavior. "Excuse me, I'm-"

"Y-You need a room? Here!" The man tossed a key to the hedgehog, who nimbly caught it. "F-Free of charge!" The manager smiled weakly. "Ju-Just tell your friend not to come h-here anymore, yeah?"

The Ultimate Lifeform tilted his head in confusion. "What?" Why was the man acting all strange? And why did he give him another room? He already had one. Shadow peered down at the key and saw that it was to the room he was already staying in. Why was it offered if it was already occupied? When the manager didn't grace him with a better explanation, Shadow just walked away with a frown on his face. "Thanks." He called back.

Now standing in front of his apartment door, he was apprehensive about opening it, not knowing what could be on the other side. Steeling himself, Shadow unlocked and opened the door only to stare incredulously at what's inside. The place itself was fine. It was clean with a couple pieces of furniture in it that were provided by the complex, but other than that, it was barren. Like an unused apartment.

With a bad feeling in his gut, Shadow sped around the place, checking the bathroom, kitchen, and his bedroom. When he finished, he sat down unceremoniously on the couch and put his face in his hands. None of his things were here. No food in the kitchen, no personal items in the bedroom, and no toiletries in the bathroom. He was even missing his TV. Did someone rob him of everything he owned? Doubt it. It was like…he never lived here at all.

Feeling tired and drained, Shadow dragged himself to the bedroom and lied himself down on the provided bed. As he relaxed, he thought about his situation. He didn't have any money, so he couldn't really replace all the things he somehow lost. Well, at least the room was free…for some reason. He didn't even want to think about the strange manager.

Curling up, Shadow's overworked mind and spent body allowed him to easily fall into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer- The Sonic the hedgehog characters, I do not own.**

**Chapter 7- Pink and Yellow**

The sun slowly rose over Station Square, causing the street lamps to shut off, not needed because of the natural rays of light. The signs of dawn woke up the city, its citizens filling the streets heading to their own destinations. The area eventually got filled with loud conversations and polite greetings. While these people were up and running at the first sign of the bright star, a specific hedgehog didn't welcome the world of light until a couple hours later.

Blinking ruby irises open, the single habitant of the open apartment groaned as he shook off the hold of sleep. Yawning, Shadow sat up and stretched, cracking his back. The given bed wasn't the most comfortable thing to fall asleep on. Rubbing his eyes, he realized that he didn't even take off his gloves and shoes last night before climbing into bed.

Throwing his legs over the side, he leaned on his knees and thought about what he was going to do today. His upmost priority was to find Tails and ask him about Knuckles, then he would question about what happened to himself. Shadow looked around the room he was in and sighed. Also, maybe he could convince the fox to let him move in with him for a while.

With his plans finalized in his head, the Ultimate Lifeform hopped off the mattress and left his bland apartment, hopefully he wouldn't have to come back here. He placed his keys under the mat outside his door, for just in case he did come back. If he didn't, then the weird manager would just have to look for the key. The hiding spot wasn't too hard to figure out.

Shadow took to the sidewalks as soon as he left the complex. He decided not to run around because if he did, there was a bigger chance of him missing anyone he recognized. While strolling down the walkways, the hedgehog noticed that the pedestrians would stay at least three feet away from him at all times. The people in front would speed up, and the people behind him would stay back there, not getting any closer. The oncoming citizens would part a way for him immediately; some would even step out into the street to make way for the hedgehog. They all avoided any type of eye contact.

When Shadow tried to find out why the people were acting like that, the ones he managed to get ahold of looked everywhere but him, like they were expecting someone or something to show up. They didn't even give him an answer. They stuttered a bit before excusing themselves.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get an explanation of any type, Shadow gave up on that and continued his search. He looked everywhere. Along the streets, inside stores, even on top of the buildings. Everywhere but right in front of him. Not watching where he was going, Shadow bumped into someone hard, causing him to stumble backwards. The other was talking to his friend quietly, that's why he didn't notice a person in front of him before it was too late. Being lighter than the hedgehog, he fell backwards on the pavement with a surprised shout.

Shadow, trying to regain his breath from the hard hit to the chest, froze at the familiar voice. Focusing on the downed denizen, ruby eyes saw as the fox he was looking for groaned on the concrete. Examining the kit, the Ultimate Lifeform wondered what happened to Tails as he took in his bruised stomach and gauze wrapped leg. Before he could say anything, another voice interrupted him.

"Tails! Are you alright?"

Shadow now focused on the pink hedgehog standing beside the kit, looking at him with a shocked expression. She squatted down and surveyed Tails, green eyes swirling with worry. "Your bruise doesn't hurt, does it?"

Tails, when the pain subsided, opened a blue eye and snickered. "I'm okay Amy...I landed on my _back _after all."

The pinkette rolled her eyes. "Tch, I worry about you and this is how you treat me? Alright, see how much I worry next time." She said in mock offense with a smirk on her face. Tails laughed louder at the girl.

Then his gaze met Shadow's.

He barely looked at him for half a second before he closed his eyes and backed away clumsily on his hands and feet. Tails then wrapped his namesakes around him, holding his hands out in a peaceful gesture. His whole body was trembling harshly. Pedestrians just walked around the little scene. Tails began to stutter. "I-I am sorry I b-bumped into you! I d-didn't mean it! Pl-Please don't h-hurt me again!" Shadow just gaped at the sight and at the fox's words. Hurt him again? He had never hurt him to begin with!

Saying that Amy was concerned was an understatement. She quickly went up to Tails and put her hands on his shoulders, feeling him shake underneath. "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"

The fox, eyelids still tightly closed, weakly pointed to where Shadow, who had no clue what was going on, was standing. "I-It's him…"

Amy's expression hardened. "You mean…" Tails nodded slowly. The pinkette stood back up. "In that case…" Shadow blinked and all of a sudden, Amy had her hammer in her hand, gripping it tightly. "It's time that he gets what's been coming to him!" With a loud yell, she lifted her hammer and turned around to face a nervous Shadow who held his hand up to try to stop the pain that was supposed to come. But it didn't. Amy, with her hammer still over her head, warily stared at him, giving the hedgehog a once over.

She lowered her weapon cautiously, eventually letting the head of the hammer touch the ground. Amy leaned on it. "You two look alike, but you're not him. Tails…" She looked back at the kit who had his head in his hands. At the sound of his name, Tails separated two of his fingers and peered through them.

"Y-Yeah?"

The pinkette smiled at how cute her little brother could be. "It's okay. False alarm."

At those words, Tails slowly unraveled his two furry appendages from around him and shakily stood up, not taking his eyes off the ebony hedgehog who was still too shocked to talk. He nodded to Amy. "You're r-right…he isn't him…" The kit stepped up beside the pinkette, slightly hiding behind her as he stared at Shadow with caution.

Amy ruffled his fur on his head before turning back to the Ultimate Lifeform. "If you're not Sonic…" Shadow almost choked on his spit. Sonic? _Sonic?!_ Surely they weren't thinking of the same hedgehog, right? The female hedgehog didn't notice how her words affected the other. "Who are you then? I haven't seen you around here."

The new information about the blue _hero_ who was supposed to be _nice_ and _caring_ was pushed to the back of Shadow's head as he took in Amy's question. She didn't know who he was either? First Knuckles, then her? What's going on here? Red eyes glanced to the half hidden fox and noticed that Tails didn't seem to recognize him either. Feeling the need to sit down before the whirlwind that was his life recently caused him to faint from his mind overloading, Shadow went over to an unoccupied table outside a small café. Sitting down, he rubbed his forehead and let out a sigh.

Amy and Tails looked at each other before the former put away her hammer and joined Shadow at the table meant for four. The fox stood as his spot, twiddling his thumbs, before following his sister figure. He sat down in a chair and scooted it a smidge closer to Amy.

Said hedgehog watched as the one across from her mumbled to himself, massaging his temples. After a moment of silence, Amy cleared her throat. "Are you…feeling well? Do you have a headache?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Shadow muttered lowly under his breath so the other two couldn't hear. "No." He said louder. "I'm fine."

Amy gave a small smile. "That's good. So, back to my question earlier…Who are you?"

"I'm Shadow. Shadow the hedgehog."

The other two tensed, taking in a sharp breath. "Are you related to Sonic at all?" Amy asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

He shook his head, knowing that this question would come up. "I'm not related to him." That's why everyone was avoiding him, because he looked similar to Sonic.

The tension rolled off their shoulders. Amy sighed. "Whew…that's great. We really don't want another him running around the place." She leaned an elbow on the table and put her cheek in her palm. "Well, I don't think it mattered if you are family to him. You seem nice enough."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Shadow just nodded.

Amy then chuckled. "Look at me, being all rude. I told you to introduce yourself while we have yet to do so." She gestured to herself. "In case you haven't grasped it yet, I'm Amy. Amy Rose." The pinkette pointed to her silent neighbor. "This is Miles Prower, but I like to call him Tails, for obvious reasons." Amy nudged the fox. "Come on, be polite. At least greet the guy."

Tails stared at her for a second before shifting his gaze over to me. He gave a small wave. "Hey…It's nice to meet you." He said in a soft voice.

"Same for you, Tails. You too, Amy." Shadow felt really awkward in this situation. He had just introduced himself to two people who should already know who he was. He was beginning to think that nothing was wrong with Knuckles. Something was wrong with him, but what? He had been knocked out, so was this a dream? Or was it reality? Was his life before now just a passing dream? Not wanting to overwhelm his brain at the moment, he glanced over to Tails with an apologetic smile on his face. "Ah…I'm sorry for bumping into you before."

"I-It's quite alright…"

Amy tsked. "He's so shy. It's painful watch sometimes." Tails weakly glared at her, but she ignored it. "Just give him some time; he'll warm up to you sooner or later."

"It's fine. Some people just don't open up to others as easily. It's not necessarily a bad thing." Shadow watched as Tails stuck his tongue out at Amy who rolled her eyes for a second time. The Ultimate Lifeform examined the fox's body again and frowned. "So Tails…are you sure Sonic did this to you?"

The air seemed to drop a couple degrees as Amy glared at him. "Are you saying that Tails didn't remember who _beat him up!?_"

Realizing that a hammer would reappear soon if he didn't do something, Shadow decided to play the 'I'm new to this area' card. "No, not that. I've just heard that Sonic was a good guy from where I came from." It wasn't exactly a lie.

Amy scoffed. "You must have misheard or be talking about another guy, because no one here would describe him that way." She held out her hand and started to list things off, lifting a finger every time. "He harasses and bullies people for fun, steals occasionally, gets way too violent, has no respect for others, and is a flat out jerk." Tails nodded at every listed item.

Shadow furrowed his brow. "Wait. One of those things is illegal. Stealing? Why isn't he in jail yet?"

The pinkette crossed her arms. "Pfft. The police wouldn't do anything if they could."

"Why?" He wanted to gather all the information about this…world he was in. He couldn't call it a dream or reality because he had no clue.

Amy stared over to the congested traffic on both the road and sidewalk. "Because he protects the city from danger."

"And the police aren't very strong here, so they need all the help they can get." Tails added quietly.

Shadow hummed in thought. "So, would you call him a hero?"

The pinkette let out a humorless chuckle. "More like a corrupt one, but yeah, I guess."

They sat in comfortable silence until they hear multiple car horns going off. Amy sighed. "Speak of the devil." The two peered over Shadow's shoulder and he turned around to see what they were looking at. He frowned at the sight.

A certain blue hedgehog was jumping from car to car, laughing his head off. He went from one to another, making his way up the street without actually touching the ground. He left behind little dents on the top of the vehicles, but he didn't seem to care. When he passed where they were, Tails whimpered a bit, but Sonic didn't even see them. The crowd of pedestrians blocked them from view. The three Mobians just watched as Sonic played the extreme version of 'don't touch the lava' down the road until he was out of sight.

Amy sighed. "He pulls that kind of crap every day." She then stood up. "Well, we better get going." She glanced to a still sitting Tails. "Don't you have a client that wanted her refrigerator fixed as soon as possible?"

Tails jumped up, eyes wide. "Oh yeah! I totally forgot!" He grabbed her arm. "Let's go, Amy! You know the address!"

The pinkette laughed. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She turned to Shadow. "We'll see ya later!" Amy ran off with the fox. "We should all hang out again soon!" She called back.

The Ultimate Lifeform watched them leave before slumping in his seat. What was he going to do know? It was very likely that no one knew who he was, so he was answerless about why he was in space before. Unless he already had an answer...? Was his memory on what happened on the Ark real? Or did he really just wake up out of a cryogenic tank? Shadow sighed. This was just too complicated. He would rather work on the simpler things first…like slapping some sense into his doppelgänger.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer- Do I own them? Nope. Never have, never will.**

**Chapter 8- Station Square's hero**

Shadow sighed in frustration.

He couldn't find Sonic.

The ebony hedgehog had followed the traffic jam of cars since the other was having so much fun jumping on them. He had started to quickly skate around, causing the mutterings of 'There's another one,' or 'He can run fast too?' or 'We're all doomed,' from the citizens that saw him. Ignoring the words, Shadow went along the congested street until the cars thinned out. He stopped looking on the road then, knowing that the game couldn't have continued without being severely dangerous. Sonic wouldn't do that, at least, the Sonic he knew. The Ultimate Lifeform was going to take the chance that this place's Sonic wasn't suicidal.

He was now standing on the sidewalk of a slightly less populated part of the city where one could actually walk without bumping into someone every other step. Knowing that he'll never find the other in this big city by himself, Shadow looked around to find someone who wouldn't seem to run away when he approached. His eyes zeroed in on a man in his early twenties with shaggy brown hair sitting on a bench texting on his phone. Hoping that the guy would have the answer he was looking for, Shadow went over to him.

"Excuse me."

The man didn't even glance up, too busy doing whatever on his phone. "Go away…Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The nerve of some people. "I see that…I was just wondering if you saw Sonic pass by."

The guy scoffed, still staring down at his device. "Why? You wanna go looking for him? Man, that's practically covering yourself with meat and walking into a lion's den. He's that bad." He finally tore his gaze away from his phone. "Why do…you…want…" The more the man looked at Shadow, the tenser he became. His blue eyes widened to their fullest. "Oh _hell._" He dropped his phone in his lap and held his hands up, shaking them wildly. "A-Are you Sonic's brother or cousin or something? Please don't tell him I said that, _please_!"

Shadow just watched the full-grown man practically begging on the bench in shock. Sonic…what has he done to these people? The hedgehog shook his head. "Calm down. I'm not related to him in any way."

The guy lowered his hands, but still stared at Shadow warily. "What, are you his friend then?"

"No." Was the immediate reply. Shadow wasn't friends with this world's Sonic yet, and he didn't know if he wanted to. Or even could be, for that matter.

The man relaxed on the bench and raked his hand through his coarse hair. "That's good, because if he had…I don't wanna think about it."

Shadow raised a brow at that, but didn't ask about it. He was going to meet the blue devil eventually, so he'll see for himself. "So…" The hedgehog continued like the man hadn't just panicked. "Have you seen him?"

He nodded and pointed to his right. "Yeah. I saw the little demon not too long ago going that way. My best guess is that he's going to the park right outside the city. He usually goes there around this time."

Shadow knew that park, for he had passed it once or twice before. "Thanks." Was all he said before taking off, leaving the man alone once more.

About ten minutes later, he arrived at the fairly large park. It was a giant grassy area filled with parents and their kids enjoying themselves. Over to the side was a basketball court were a group of teenagers were playing a game of basketball, running back and forth on the court. On the other side was a swing set where kids happily took turns swinging in the air. Because of the moderately windy day, kites were in the sky, floating in the wind. A gravel walkway circled around the place so anyone could go for a jog for exercise. The whole field was enclosed in a metal fence, all except for the entrance. A sign was over the opening, properly calling the area 'Station Park'.

With a goal in mind, Shadow stepped through the threshold and searched around for the other who might be here. Ruby eyes swept the area before zeroing in on the hedgehog he was looking for. Sonic was sitting on the fence perfectly balanced while he watched over the park. His emerald eyes were half-mast signifying that he was bored to some degree. In his hands was a small red and white basket that would normally hold food. When Sonic dug in it, he pulled out a cheese fry before throwing it in his mouth.

Shadow blinked at the sight. It didn't seem like Sonic was the 'corrupt hero' to him at the moment. In fact, this was like something the old Sonic would do, watching over the people he would protect. The only exception was that he would be chowing down on a couple chili dogs rather than eating the cheesy fries.

The ebony hedgehog watched as the other dug around for another fried potato before frowning. Sonic looked down at the basket, then shrugged. He tossed the item away from him without a care, the greasy basket landing on the previously litter-free grass. Even though there was a trash can right behind him.

Maybe Shadow's evaluation was wrong.

A frown grew on the Ultimate Lifeform's muzzle and he was about to go over to the litter bug, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw that Sonic had a wicked smirk on his face. Because he never saw that expression worn by the blue hedgehog, it kind of threw Shadow for a loop. Wondering who the look was for, the ebony hedgehog followed Sonic's gaze to a bigger man jogging on the gravel path that was near to where Sonic was sitting. It didn't escape Shadow that the man got more and more nervous every step closer to the city's hero.

Sonic chucked and cupped his gloved hands around his mouth. "Wide load coming through! Get out the way people!" Shadow's frown deepened when the other jumped off the fence and joined the man, walking the same speed the guy was jogging. Sonic then got in front of him and turned around, walking backwards. It was clear he was teasing the huffing man.

"You know fatass, I don't think jogging at two miles per hour is gonna help you at all." Did…Did Sonic just curse? Said Mobian linked his hands behind his head and smiled nastily. "Might as well just go home and stuff your face with ice cream. That's want you want to do anyway."

The man swallowed thickly, but didn't respond to Sonic's taunts. Anyone could see clear as day that the speedster's words were getting to him though.

Sonic waved a hand in the other's face. "What? Don't wanna talk to me?" The duo were coming Shadow's way, steadily getting closer. "Or is it that you can't?" The blue hedgehog barked out a laugh. "I bet it's the latter. Dude, you look like you're gonna drop any sec-" Getting tired of seeing Sonic bullying an innocent person, Shadow grabbed the blue one's arm as they passed by and yanked him away from the man. Black ears picked up a relieved sigh from the guy as he kept going.

Sonic, not expecting the harsh action, stumbled off the trail a bit before regaining his balance. The blue hedgehog whipped his head toward his captor. Emerald eyes widened as they locked their gaze with blazing rubies. Not one to be intimidated, by another _Mobian_ at that, Sonic glared back and growled at the other, ripping his arm out of his grasp. He took a step away before eyeing the other. The stranger was a hedgehog as well with the same body structure as him.

The corrupt hero crossed his arms and snorted. "And the hell who are you?" His tone was bland, uncaring.

Shadow copied his stance, still glaring. "My name is Sh-"

Sonic chuckled, cutting off the other's introduction. "It's funny. You thought I gave a shit about who you were." Shadow gritted his teeth. Amy was spot on with her description of him.

The ebony hedgehog took a deep breath, trying not to get too worked up. "You need to learn some respect. You don't litter and you don't talk to people, especially who are clearly older than you, like that. Someone should put you in your place."

Emeralds hardened. "Are you suggesting that you're that 'someone'? That's funny." Sonic took a step closer and jabbed a finger in Shadow's chest. "You, bastard, can't tell me what to do."

The ebony hedgehog clenched his fist, tired of the brash insults. "Somebody has to." Shadow growled out before throwing a punch at Sonic.

Said Mobian ducked before it could make contact with his face. "Whoa!" He knew it. This guy was just like him. Sonic inwardly smirked. This'll be fun. "You're fast, but don't think that'll do you any good." He backed up nimbly and got into a ready stance. "You wanna fight asshole? Well, you got one."

Shadow got into one of his own. "That's what I came here for." He noticed a scrape on the other's cheek, but didn't comment about it.

Sonic didn't grace that with a response. He rushed the Ultimate Lifeform with a punch that was aimed for the face. Shadow waited for the right time before ducking under it and low kicking the blue one, causing Sonic to jump into the air to dodge it.

Completely expecting this attack, the hero front flipped to gain momentum and brought his foot down onto Shadow's head. That's how it would've gone if the ebony hedgehog hadn't caught his foot, stopping the attack. Shadow grunted at the power of the attack and realized that it would've knocked him out if it hit. Knowing that he was in control at the second, the Ultimate Lifeform tightened his grip, spun around, and let go, sending the other flying. That caught the attention of the people in the park, but they just watched from afar, too nervous to do anything.

Sonic hit the ground hard, barrel rolling away. When he stopped, he jumped back up. Feeling something run down his face, Sonic wiped it off and saw that it was blood from his reopened wound. He scowled at the sight before focusing back on his opponent. Playtime was over.

Shadow blinked and Sonic was right back on him. The ebony hedgehog didn't expect the other to recover so quickly, so he didn't have time to dodge the punch. When it hit, Shadow was sent sprawling back only to land on the ground, shouting in pain. None of old Sonic's hits were that hard before…Why were they now? This was the same Sonic…just a different personality.

Shadow barely had time to recover before his vision was filled with blue. He rolled over in time to avoid having a shoe smashed in his face. He pushed himself off the ground and made some distance between the two, only to immediately duck when his foe spin dashed at him. Shadow cursed under his breath at how he was only dodging and not getting any attacks in. It seemed that Sonic was faster too. How?

The Ultimate Lifeform turned on his heel and threw a punch to the person he knew that was going to be behind him. His hit landed, but so did Sonic's. For the second time in less than two minutes, Shadow was sent to the ground with a stinging cheek. His face was going to be filled with all types of bruises. Laying on his back, the ebony hedgehog tried to get himself up, but a foot slammed into his chest, pushing him straight back to the grassy ground. Struggling to regain his breath after it was knocked out of him, Shadow looked up to see Sonic sneering down at him, almost face-to-face.

The ebony hedgehog just vaguely noticed the other's split and bleeding lip before scowling back up at the doppelgänger. Shadow raised his arms to push Sonic off of him, but another powerful hit sent his head to the side and halted his movements. Something sharp was then put against his throat. Shadow was almost afraid to breathe. He slowly turned to the Mobian over him, the item following his movements. Was…Sonic holding a knife…against his _neck_?

Shadow then realized why the other was stronger and faster.

Sonic didn't hold back…

…because he didn't care.

When the old Sonic and Shadow fought, which they did on occasion, they didn't go all out because neither of them wanted the other seriously hurt. Minor bumps and bruises, but nothing major. This version of the blue hero…couldn't care less.

Sonic grinned maliciously before shaking his head like he was chastising a child. "No no…you don't want to do that…" Shadow swallowed nervously when the grin melted off the other's face, leaving behind no expression. "Now that I have your attention…" Sonic pushed down on the knife a little harder and the Ultimate Lifeform broke out into a cold sweat. "I'll say this once. This is my fucking city, and I can do whatever I want. Nothing you say or do will change that." He put more weight on Shadow's chest. "So mind your own damn business and don't bother me again." Sonic stood up and turned his back to Shadow. Without another glance at the downed hedgehog, the blue hero left the park and sped off.

And like that, he was gone.

* * *

**Man, someone should give Sonic some soap for his mouth, huh?**

**Should I change this to M? I mean, Sonic's language isn't pretty... It's just that I'm not totally sure and you'll be seeing more of Sonic and his dirty mouth later, it's part of his character. I don't want my story to be taken down for something stupid like not rating it right...so just let me know. Thanks in advance!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sonic: The author doesn't own me and my damn friends.**

**Thanks for that disclaimer…**

**Sonic: Any time. Just call me up.**

**Chapter 9- It isn't Rouge, but..**

Ruby eyes were still staring at the exit their owner's blue counterpart left from. Shadow, laying on the ground, had to keep himself from gaping after the other. Sonic had more or less threatened him, which was surprising in itself, with a _knife_ to his _throat_. As soon as the hero did that, Shadow's thought process just scattered all over the place, not pulling itself together until after the weapon was gone. The Ultimate Lifeform knew for sure now that he wasn't where he came from because the old Sonic wouldn't even pick up _any_ type of weapon unless it was absolutely necessary.

Propping himself up on his left elbow, Shadow gently rubbed his hand across his neck and winced when the action caused a stinging sensation. Shocked, he raised his hand up to his eyes to see a small red stain on his glove. Sonic had actually cut the skin! Bewilderment was swiftly replaced with anger; he clenched his fists. The Faker's words might've intimidated most people, but Shadow wasn't like them. He didn't give a damn whose city this was. He just knew that Sonic better watch his back because when he saw that hedgehog again…

Shadow was knocked out of his vengeful thoughts at the sound of flapping wings steadily getting closer coming from behind him. Black ears focused on the arrival of a specific bat before their owner snorted to himself. He wasn't really that surprised to see her here considering that he had met everyone else since his arrival besides her.

Forgetting that everyone he knew didn't know him, Shadow grunted out a greeting. "Hey Rouge."

There was a soft thud as she landed behind him. "Rouge?" Shadow's breath hitched and his guard was immediately up. He was pretty sure there weren't any more Mobian bats roaming around Station Square.

So why was her voice so low?

Shadow almost didn't want to turn around, but his curiosity was too high to be ignored. He slowly turned his head to the person standing behind him. Rubies focused on the black sneakers before trailing up tan legs to khaki shorts the same color of the shoes. Continuing up, Shadow wanted to look away when he realized that the bat was shirtless, but then he noticed that 'she' was lacking the regular female…parts. Going past the crossed arms, he found that he was looking at a familiar more masculine face. Teal eyes, white fur and everything but the makeup. A seemingly custom-made black snapback with a white outline of a Chaos emerald on the front sat on the bat's head. This could be Rouge's twin brother, if she had one.

Unable to handle another curveball tossed his way today, Shadow's mind went haywire and shut down, leaving him just staring openly at the other without a single word coming out of the Ultimate Lifeform's mouth.

The bat cocked _his_ head down at the injured hedgehog laying on the ground with a confused frown on his face. "That's a girl's name. Do I look like a girl to you?" If Shadow could talk at the moment, he wouldn't want to answer that question. The guy didn't look like a girl in anyone else's eyes, but to the hedgehog, he couldn't stop seeing the girl Rouge. The bat rolled his eyes at Shadow's lack of a response, decoding it as an unspoken yes. "Haha…funny. The name's Rogue, yours?"

Shadow's brain came back online at the question. He blinked for the first time since seeing Rogue. "It's Shadow."

"Shadow…" Rogue eyed the hedgehog before shrugging. "Fitting name." Teal orbs focused the way Sonic went and a smirk appeared on his face. "I saw the whole fight between you and Blue." He shook his head. "Tch…I wish I had the guts to do what you did. If I did get in a fight with him though, I would come out worse than you are right now." The hedgehog was barely listening to Rogue's words. He was still shocked that Rogue _existed_.

Said Mobian walked in front of him holding out a gloved hand, and the Ultimate Lifeform, dazed, grabbed it after a moment of hesitation. Standing up, a sudden wave of dizziness made him stumble a bit and he would've fell back to the ground if Rogue wasn't there to catch him. Grunting, the bat helped him regain his balance. "Geez, Shadow. You're heavier than you look." The hedgehog didn't know if that was offensive or not. "Looks like Sonic hit your head pretty hard…" Rogue paused to think for a second before nodding to himself. He held out his arms. "Grab my wrists."

Shadow, whose throbbing cheeks are becoming more prominent, furrowed his brow and frowned. "Why?"

The bat bobbed his head to the right. "My place isn't too far away from here and you can rest there. I don't think you need to go to the hospital…" Rogue narrowed his eyes at the cut on Shadow's neck that was already healing. "Nah, you don't. I can get you a bag of ice for your head if you need it."

Slowly getting used to the new 'Rouge', Shadow crossed his arms, wavering slightly while he was standing. "I have legs."

Rogue smirked. "And you can barely use them. Now come on, it's not going to take more than five minutes to get there." The bat flapped his wings to get airborne. He held out his wrists and stared at Shadow expectantly.

The hedgehog looked up at the other Mobian before sighing. He didn't want to admit it, but it's true that he would have a hard time running through the city with the world slightly spinning as it was. He couldn't really find a problem going with Rogue beside the point that it's going to be hard to not call the boy Rouge. Shadow reached up and grabbed his wrists. Rogue flapped harder and they were in the air the next second.

"Chaos…" The bat huffed. "Dude, you really need to hit the gym or something!"

Shadow scowled. "Shut up."

Rogue chuckled. "Chill, I was just playin."

True to the bat's words, they arrived at the complex in little under five minutes. Rogue let go when Shadow was safely on the ground before landing himself. The other Mobian dug around in his pockets a little before taking out a silver key. He unlocked the door and opened it. Rogue stepped inside before looking back at Shadow with mischief swirling in his eyes. "Can you make it in here…? Or am I gonna have to carry you again?"

Shadow weakly glared. "There's no need for that." Taking careful strides, he made it in and went automatically for the couch right there in the living room, not wanting to show how off-balance he ready was. He had to evade Sonic's punches at all costs next time.

Rogue shut the door. "Yeah, just make yourself at home." He strode into the neighboring room, the kitchen. "I'll get ya some ice!" He yelled back. Shadow reached up, touched his cheek, and hissed in pain. Yeah, he was going to need the cooling sensation pronto.

The hedgehog took this time to look around the place. There was another couch in the room along with the one he was sitting on. A coffee table sat in the middle right in front of Shadow and a flat screen TV was mounted on the wall. There was the beginning of a hallway right next to the entrance of the kitchen that must lead to the bedroom and bathroom. His eye twitched when he had to keep himself from cleaning up all the candy wrappers and soda cans on the floor. He wasn't a neat freak per se, but this was dancing on the line between acceptable and unacceptable. Taking his eyes off the mess, Shadow focused on a particular spot on the adjacent wall. There were two shelves holding six hats altogether, almost identical to the one Rogue had on.

They were all black with different color outlines of the emerald on the front: green, blue, purple, yellow, red, and cyan. "Ah, so you're eyeing my little collection, huh?" Shadow whirled his head around and watched Rogue reenter the room. The bat gave him a bag full of ice; he mumbled thanks before putting it against his cheek, inwardly sighing in relief. These bruises were going to take a while to heal. Not as long as the ones on a normal person, but long enough.

Rogue went over to the shelves and took off his hat, placing it in a noticeable gap on the surface. "If you haven't noticed, they all correspond to each Chaos emerald. The guy who made them looked at me funny for the request, but he did it anyway." Shadow nodded. At least Rogue still had a little thing for the emeralds.

The bat plopped down on the other couch after pushing away some wrappers. Rogue turned on the TV and flipped through a couple channels before stopping on some reality show. He linked his arms around his head and sighed. "I wish they were the real things. I'd do _anything_ to get my hands on _one_."

Shadow blinked. "You don't have any?"

The bat scoffed. "I wish." Rogue didn't have any of the gems? Rouge would always have one some way or another. Sometimes two.

The two sat in silence for a while until a low growl, actually louder than the TV, caught both of the Mobian's attention. Shadow rubbed his stomach and mentally cursed. He had forgotten to eat breakfast, too busy talking to his reintroduced friends and fighting with a certain hedgehog.

Rogue barked out a laugh. "You hungry? I got you." He stood up and made his way back to the kitchen. "You like scrambled eggs, right? Cuz that's the only way I know how to cook them."

"Yes." Shadow frowned, feeling like some kind of freeloader. "But you don't have to-"

"Don't sweat it." He cut the hedgehog off, stopping at the exit of the living room. Rogue smirked and patted his stomach. "I haven't had breakfast either. I was goin' on a little morning stroll when I found you." He then disappeared into the kitchen.

Shadow stared after him for a moment before closing his eyes and relaxing into the couch, moving the bag to the other side of his face when it got too cold. Rubies reopened and focused on the show on the flat screen. That was until the thought about freeloading entered his mind again and made him call on Rogue for it wouldn't go away until he did so.

"Rou-" Damn it. "Rogue!"

"Yeah?"

"What do I owe you for this?"

Shadow heard a snigger. "Nothing! This is me rewarding _you_ for giving Sonic that bleeding lip!"

The hedgehog cracked a smirk. Fair enough.

* * *

**A/N- A little gender bending action to spice things up a bit! XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer- SEGA owns every single character in this story. **

**Chapter 10- On the horizon**

"_Hello?"_

"Yeah, hey. I'm calling the correct place, right? You guys fix stuff?"

_There was a small giggle. "Yeah…well it's mostly my friend, but you called the right number. So…what's broken?"_

Teal eyes glanced down at the appliance in front their owner. "My stove is all outta whack."

"_Your stove? What's wrong with it?"_

"It isn't heatin' up."

_There was a muffled chuckle. "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"_

Rogue blinked and rubbed his chin. "Ya know…I _haven't_ tried that ye-hey!"

_Laughter was heard. "Sorry! I had to! What's your address?"_

The bat wasn't even mad at the joke; it was kinda funny. "I'm in apartment 307 at the complex closest to Station Park. Know where that is?"

"_Yeah! I know where it is."_

"Cool. Just come quick." Rogue glanced over at the carton of eggs on the counter. "I'm dyin' of hunger over here."

"_Alright! We'll be there as soon as possible!" There was a click as the other hung up._

Sighing, the bat snapped his phone closed and put it back in his pocket. It was just his luck that as soon as he wanted to cook at home for once, the stupid stove had to take a vacation. Rogue glared down at the appliance. "You had to do this, huh? Just stop working? I mean dang, I just wanted to be a good host but then you go and pull this kind of mess!" Rogue paused in his little rant before throwing his head back and groaning. "Great. Now I'm talkin to a stove. The hunger's gotta be messin with my brain."

The Mobian then went over to the carton of eggs. He picked it up and slid over to the refrigerator, opening the white door. "Might as well return you guys back in here until they-" The shrill sound of the doorbell filled the small home. "-come?" Rogue placed the carton on a clear rack in the fridge and closed it. He jogged out of the kitchen just in time to see Shadow about to get off the couch. "Don't worry Shads. I got it."

The hedgehog's eyes widened marginally at the familiar nickname as he relaxed back on the couch. "Shads?" He didn't know why, but it just sounded weird coming out of a mouth not attached to a certain cocky blue hero.

At the door, Rogue shrugged. "It's just faster to say than Shadow, ya know?" Twisting the knob, the bat opened the door to reveal his visitors. Shadow was mildly surprised to see Amy and Tails right outside.

The pinkette blinked at the white bat for a moment before a light flush colored her cheeks. "H-Hi. Are you the guy with the uh…stove problem?"

Rogue grinned which made Amy glance away, the blush darkening. "Sure am! Heh, when you said soon as possible, you really meant _as soon as possible_!"

Amy smiled shyly. "Well…we were pretty close by when you called."

The bat nodded. "Awesome."

The interaction between the two was another reminder that Shadow wasn't in his world anymore, that this was some kind of dream. Or maybe he was dreaming about his 'home' and this was reality. He was still fuzzy about it, but anyway, Amy would've never done this before. The major reasons were that Rouge was a girl and that Amy was forever chasing Sonic.

Now, the hedgehog seemed to be attracted to Rogue, but it didn't look like that was going to go anywhere. The bat was completely oblivious. Also, the age difference was another factor. Everyone looked the same age as before so Amy should be twelve and Rogue eighteen. What's with her and unobtainable guys? Shadow would never know what's going on in that girl's mind.

Focusing on Rogue, the hedgehog saw him letting the other two in. Teal eyes shifted from the pinkette to the fox holding a toolbox. "Hey lil' guy! So you're the one who's gonna fix my stove, right?" Tails nodded silently, standing close to Amy. The grin on Rogue's face grew as he closed the door. "What are your names?"

The pinkette gave a small smile. "Uh…I'm Amy! And this is Tails!" The fox gave a tiny wave.

Rogue hummed in acknowledgement. "Alright, the kitchen's this way. The name's Rogue, by the way." Walking, the bat gestured to his previous visitor on the couch. "And that over there is Sha-"

"Shadow? It is you!" Amy then gasped when she saw the bruises visible on his face and the healing cut on his neck. She went over to him and eyed the injuries. "What happened?" Tails followed her by the ebony hedgehog, blue eyes showing more emotion than he would speak aloud at the moment.

Rogue paused in his movements before laughing. "Shads over there fought with Blue. He lost, but man ya shoulda seen it!"

Tails flinched. "Blue…you mean S-Sonic?"

"The very same!"

"Oh my gosh!" Amy sat down beside Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform inwardly winced at the other's loud and shrill voice. Her green eyes were shining with excitement. "You _have_ to tell me what happened!"

Rogue cleared his throat before jabbing a thumb toward the kitchen. "I know it's amazing to hear that Sonic got hurt, but my stove still isn't working." He pointed to his stomach. "Still hungry and those eggs aren't gonna cook themselves."

Amy blushed. Of embarrassment? Shadow didn't even know. "R-Right…that reason we came here." She stuttered out. The pinkette shifted her gaze to Tails. "Will you be alright going in there by yourself?"

The fox glanced over to Rogue then back to Amy. "U-Um…"

The bat, sensing Tails' discomfort, leaned on the back of the couch and gave a genuine smile. "Come on, I'm not gonna bite." His smile turned into a smirk. "I think you have to worry about that more with Shadow." Said hedgehog sent a weak glare his way and Rogue chuckled. "See what I mean?" He pushed himself away from the furniture and continued his way to the kitchen, gesturing for Tails to follow. After a moment of hesitation, the kit trailed him.

Shadow watched Tails curiously throughout the whole thing. He turned to Amy before she could start spitting out rapid-fire questions. "What happened to Tails?"

Amy blinked. "What do you mean?"

The hedgehog switched the side the ice pack was on again. "He doesn't seem to trust others much. Besides you."

She sighed. "Of course you noticed…It isn't hard to miss." Amy stared up at the ceiling. "Tails was bullied a lot because of his two tails. It isn't exactly normal to have two, so people decided to tease him about it, harshly. That was until I met him about a year ago. He was being bullied by this gang of boys while I was walking by. Not liking what they were doing, I jumped in the middle and showed them my hammer. The boys ran away before I could start talking. Tails has been by my side ever since and no one has bothered him again."

Shadow frowned as he heard the story. That explained everything. Tails was wary because of his past experiences, but shouldn't he be over that by now? It has been a year. The ebony hedgehog asked that and Amy clenched her fists. "He was getting better. He had stopped acting so shy around people to the point where _he_ would be the one to introduce us sometimes." She started to scowl. "That was until that jerk came along."

"Sonic?"

"Yeah, him. Yesterday, Tails actually felt brave enough to walk around town by himself. I let him go, thinking that he'll be alright. About thirty minutes later, Tails comes running back through the door crying with bruises and blood running down his leg. He said that Sonic had beat him up in an alley because of some _accident_." Amy took a deep breath, trying not to get too riled up. "He retreated back into his shell, I say even worse than when I first met him. I gotta start from square one again, I guess."

And this was yet another reason to beat up Sonic when Shadow saw him again. Dammit, he knew that Sonic was seemingly more violent here, but beat a kid up because of an accident? That was too much.

Amy sighed again. "Can we move off this topic?" Shadow nodded, knowing that Amy thought of Tails as her 'little brother' now and the topic they were one was bringing her down. "Sweet!" She brightly smiled. "Tell me all the juicy details!"

The Ultimate Lifeform scoffed. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was talking about. "There really isn't anything to tell. We both ended up bruised. He had a split lip while I had a cut on my neck."

The pinkette pursed her lips. "Pocket knife?" Shadow grunted in affirmation. "I knew it. He always has that on him." Amy chuckled, crossing her legs. "Well, it's just nice to know that someone's brave enough to go up against him. He really needs to get taught a lesson." The ebony hedgehog agreed wholeheartedly. Sonic thought that he could do whatever he wanted, but that's not the case. There were rules he had to follow too.

Tails then walked out of the kitchen with a little grin on his face. He went over and sat down on the other side of Amy. The pinkette raised a brow. "So? What was wrong with it? Apparently nothing major because that was a quick job."

The kit nodded. "Yeah, the stove was just unplugged. I don't know how, but it was." Shadow had to stifle a snort. From what of Rogue he'd seen, He figured that the bat knew nothing about the kitchen whatsoever. Maybe besides the microwave. Tails then looked at Shadow before twiddling his thumbs. "R-Rogue said that the eggs w-would be ready in a f-few minutes…"

"Okay."

A catchy ringtone then pierced the air, making everyone jump. If asked later, Shadow wouldn't have admitted it. Amy searched around, realizing that it was her phone, until Tails opened his toolbox and pulled it out. She'd forgotten that she kept it in there because she didn't have any pockets in her dress. Amy ruffled his fur. "Thanks, bro!" The pinkette placed the phone by her ear. "Hello? …Uh uh…Uh uh…Right at the outside of the city? You live in a mansion? Wow…" Amy snickered. "You have a faulty garage door? Alright! We're on our way!" She snapped her phone closed and stood up. "Let's go Tails, we have another client!"

Tails hopped up as well. "I kinda heard you, Amy." She rolled her eyes at him. The kit examined the insides of his toolbox. "I've got the right tools for the job."

"Great!" Amy skipped over to the door, the fox on her heels. She mock saluted to Shadow. "See ya later!" She opened the door and left as did Tails, after a single wave behind him.

Shadow, after watching them leave, realized that half of the ice had melted in his bag. Picking himself off the couch, he made his way into the kitchen to see Rogue lackadaisically stirring the almost done eggs. "Rogue." The hedgehog kept his voice low so that the bat wouldn't be startled. He didn't want to be responsible for any resulting burns.

Rogue jumped any way. He glanced behind him before grinning. "Oh hey." The bat gestured to the food in the pan. "This'll be already in a sec."

"Yeah, Tails told me." Shadow shook the bag, melting ice and water slushing around. "I need more ice."

He returned his attention to the eggs. "You sure? From what I can tell, you can heal fast." Rogue said, transferring the yellow breakfast item onto two plates. Wondering himself, Shadow touched his face and felt some dull pain, but it wasn't enough to put keep ice on it. "So, are they gone? I don't hear them anymore."

Shadow went over to the sink and poured out the water and ice before throwing the bag away in the trash can. "They just left. Someone else called in."

Rogue chuckled. "It's funny how those two kids are running their own repair service while I sit here, not having worked a day in my life." He handed Shadow a plate with a fork. The Ultimate took them before sitting at the small table. Rogue followed his lead. Taking a bite, Shadow was a bit surprised to find that these were the best eggs he'd ever had.

But of course he wouldn't say that out loud. Instead, "You don't work?"

The bat swallowed a mouthful. "Nah."

"So how do you pay for this place?"

He shrugged. "I find jewelry on the ground a lot and sell it at the jewelry store. I even once found a ten thousand dollar watch about to fall into a sewage drain."

Shadow eyed him oddly. "And you never tried to find the owner?"

Rogue smirked. "Dude, ya know how hard that would've been? I did one search of the area and didn't see anyone looking like they lost something. Might as well cash it in. Helped me out."

"Right…" The hedgehog didn't really have anything else to say about that. Honestly, he would've tried harder to find the owner. Ten thousand dollars wasn't cheap.

They then ate their breakfast in silence, enjoying the warm food. When he was done, Shadow threw away the plastic plate and fork away. He began to walk out the kitchen. "I'm about to go for a run."

"Hey man, can I come with you?" Rogue asked, tossing his trash away. "It's pretty boring 'round here and it's more fun to run, or rather fly," He moved his wings. "with someone else."

Shadow crossed his arms before sighing. "Fine. Don't expect me to slow down much for you."

"Don't need to worry bout that." He responded, smirking. "I'm pretty fast in the air."

The ebony hedgehog continued his way toward the front door. "If you say so." Rouge's speed in the air was decent. Was Rogue faster?

Outside the apartment, Shadow turned to the bat. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" At that, the Ultimate Lifeform took off, a black streak trailing behind him. Rogue immediately took flight and struggled to catch up to him. "Chaos! You might be as fast as Sonic!" Shadow scoffed. Might be? This wasn't even his max speed. Rogue did say that he wanted to come _with_ him. Leaving the other to eat his dust wasn't the best at the moment.

The bat flew right above him as he zigzagged around Station Square, trying not to run into anyone. Not five minutes later, they were out of the city, traveling along the flat landscape that he had traveled the day before. Seeing that there wasn't really anything in front of him, Shadow closed his eyes for a moment, feeling as the wind whipped past his face. Perking his ears, he faintly heard the flapping of Rogue's wings. Yeah, Rogue was definitely faster than Rouge. She would've lost him already.

The hedgehog could feel himself taking long calculated strides, accelerating without much effort. He could understand why Sonic loved this so mu-

"Shads, watch out!"

Shadow opened his eyes only to see his vision get filled with red before smashing into something. Losing his footing, the hedgehog and whatever he ran into went tumbling onto the grass. A familiar shout filled the air that surely wasn't Rogue. The two bodies finally stopped, becoming nothing but a black and red pile of limbs. Groaning on the ground, Shadow focused on the other who was untangling himself. The red one stood up and dusted off the grass stains. Violet orbs widened when their owner recognized the hedgehog on the floor before sighing.

"Is it your mission to wake me up every time I sleep? And to think I was having such a good dream…"

Before Shadow could answer, Rogue landed in front of him and held out a hand. When the hedgehog took it to get back on his feet, the bat laughed. "Man, this is the second time today I had to do this. Can you not stay on your feet?"

The Ultimate Lifeform scowled. "Why didn't you tell me that I was about to run into him?"

Rogue held up his hands. "Chill out! Don't blame me. Who skates with their eyes closed?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes, but didn't comment. The bat had a point. The ebony hedgehog peered around Rogue and regarded Knuckles. "I apologize for running you over and waking you up."

He shrugged. "S'ok. Accidents happen."

"Wait." Rogue turned to the echidna and pointed a finger. "You were still sleeping? Dude, it's almost noon!"

Knuckles linked his hands behind his back. "I usually don't wake up until one, but then Shadow came along." He eyed the bat with a slightly curious gaze underneath the drowsiness that was still in his system. "And you are?"

The bat scratched his nose. "I'm Rogue."

"Well Rogue, I agree with Shadow. You should've told him." Knuckles drawled out.

Rogue sputtered. "H-How is it my fault?" He gestured wildly. "What kind of person sleeps in the middle of a field anyway?"

"A tired one."

Shadow listened to the conversation with interest. At least not everything changed. 'Rouge' and Knuckles still argued. Yes, it was extremely different from normal, but still.

The talking then stopped when the sound of an airplane in the sky filled the nearby area. The three Mobians looked around for the source of the noise until Rogue pointed to the right. "I found it, but what exactly is 'it'?"

The Ultimate Lifeform swiveled his head in that direction. Following the bat's finger, he made out some kind of aircraft flying right above the horizon. It definitely wasn't an airplane. It looked too big and bulky. Furrowing his brow, Shadow tried to guess what it was. When he finally did, his stomach dropped.

It was one of Eggman's airships.

And it was going in the direction of Angel Island.


	11. Chapter 11

**Rogue- Yo, what's up? In case you all haven't noticed, the author doesn't own me, Sonic, Shadow, the lazy bum (aka Knuckles), Amy, and uhh…what was his name? Tails! Yeah him.**

**Or any other SEGA owned characters in this story.**

**Rogue- Others? Who?**

**You'll find out…**

**Chapter 11- Incoming storm**

Shadow clenched his fists as he watched the airship cross the sky. This wasn't good. He needed to hurry up and stop the doctor fast. He glanced over to Knuckles who was staring at the object impassively with a bit of recognition in his eyes. This wouldn't be so urgent if the echidna was actually doing his job, protecting the Master Emerald while on Angel Island.

Rogue quirked a brow at Shadow's visible reaction. "So…you know what that is?"

The Ultimate Lifeform had to resist from facepalming. He gestured to the flying vehicle. "And you don't? That belongs to Eggman!"

Rogue turned his head back in the direction of the aircraft, clearly surprised at the bad news. "What? Seriously?!" He hadn't ever seen any of Eggman's planes.

"Yes." Shadow almost hissed. He then whirled around to Knuckles, whose expression hadn't changed. He was still uncaring as usual. The hedgehog glared at him. "Why aren't you concerned about this?"

Knuckles gave Shadow a shifted glance. "I don't see the problem."

"You don't see the- dude, that's _Eggman's ship!_" Rogue didn't usually result to violence, but he was extremely close to punching Knuckles in the face just to see if he would get _any_ reaction.

"And it's going toward Angel Island where the Master Emerald is." Shadow growled lowly, sick and tired of the other's apathy.

Knuckles' lips twitched downwards. "And am I supposed to be concerned?" He yawned before crossing his arms. "Look, there really isn't anything to worry about."

Shadow copied his stance, but he was tense instead of relaxed, keeping himself from doing anything drastic to the echidna. "Like hell there isn't!"

The former guardian rolled his eyes. "Here me out. This has happened plenty of times before." Shadow narrowed his eyes further, but Knuckles wasn't bothered. "When Eggman gets the emerald, he almost immediately attacks Station Square, then Sonic usually deals with him. I wait to the side watching the action, because Sonic once said that he'll tear anybody a new one if they tried to help him, and wait until the battlefield is cleared of any threats, Sonic included, to retrieve the M.E. that's usually just lying in the rubble." Knuckles furrowed his brow. "I'm actually surprised he's still at it after last time."

Rogue shifted his stance and they were all standing with identical poses. His irritation was slowly dissipating as he took in the echidna's words; he was a witness to what he was explaining, after all. "It's true." He said, gaining Shadow's attention. "Eggman usually storms the city with a bunch of robots and a bigger one that the doctor himself controls. Sonic takes them all out alone and Eggman retreats." He turned to Knuckles with an odd frown on his face that Shadow couldn't make sense of. "And I agree with ya…Why is he pulling this crap again?"

Shadow looked in between both of the Mobians, a little more than upset that he had no idea what they were talking about. "What do you two mean? What happened to Eggman?"

The others shared a knowing look. Knuckles sighed. "From the way things are going, you'll find out soon enough."

Shadow scowled. "Fine." He could ask about the past all he wanted later, but now he had to focus on the present. "But don't expect me to just stand around and do nothing while I can beat Eggman to the Master Emerald."

Knuckles eyed him. "And how exactly are you going to stop him? You can't fly and Rogue can't go anywhere fast enough to catch up to him. Also, Angel Island moves, remember? How are you going to track it? As far as I know, I'm the only one who can."

As much as the hedgehog didn't want to admit it, the echidna was correct on both accounts. Even if he could find the floating isle, he had no way of getting up there. An idea suddenly popped up in his brain and he let a small smirk appear on his muzzle. True, he had no way of getting up there _by himself_, but he knew of a certain genius who could take him up there, if the fox still owned an airplane that is. Shadow was willing to take that risk. He might not beat Eggman to the emerald, but he could stop the doctor from getting very far with it.

Shadow focused on Knuckles. He was going to need the echidna to lead the young pilot to Angel Island so they could intercept the aircraft. This could work. "Alright. I've got a plan."

The former guardian held up a gloved hand. "Is that so? Then don't let me get in your way." He started to walk off, throwing a wave over his shoulder. "I'm going to do something that probably requires less energy than whatever you're thinking about."

Shadow quickly went over and grabbed his raised wrist. "Oh no you don't. You play a big part in this."

Knuckles groaned. "Do I have to?" He didn't care that he sounded like a whining child. He _did_ just wake up and he wasn't ready to do anything at the moment.

"Yes." The hedgehog clipped before grabbing Rogue's wrist.

"Whoa! What are ya doing?" The bat tried to jerk out of his grasp, but stopped when a flat glare was sent his way.

"Just calm down and get ready."

"Get ready for _wwwaaahhhh!_"

Shadow took off in the middle of Rogue's sentence, breaking the sound barrier as he made his way back to Station Square fast as possible. Knuckles remained silent as he let himself get pulled along, realizing that trying to detach himself would only result in some type of broken bone. Also, Shadow seemed extremely stubborn and it looked like nothing the echidna did would get him out of this so called plan. On the other side of Shadow, Rogue was yelling like a maniac. From fright or excitement? He didn't know. He just felt his adrenaline skyrocketing.

In no time, the trio saw Station Square in the distance. Shadow then veered to the left, going to circle around the outskirts of the city. If he recalled correctly, Amy and Tails should be working in a mansion on the outside of the metropolis. He would find them and the two would lead the way toward their house. If they even had one and not an apartment. Shadow slowed himself so he was going right under the speed of sound. Sonic booms around here surely weren't going to be appreciated.

It wasn't hard to find Tails and Amy. Mansions weren't really common around here. They were actually leaving the huge house when Shadow caught sight of them. The Ultimate Lifeform stopped right in front of the two, scaring Amy and making Tails jump behind her with a startled yelp.

Shadow let go of the two Mobians he had dragged along for the ride. Knuckles just stood there slightly wavering while Rogue struggled to regain his balance. He eventually ended up using Shadow as support. The hedgehog let him this one time because he knew how disorienting it must be to go that fast for someone who had never done it before.

Amy stared at all three of them, her gaze lingering the longest on the new face before landing permanently on Shadow. "I'm not even surprised that you can run that fast, considering how much you look like Sonic." She received a glare. "So…why are you two here with um…" Amy looked at the echidna expectantly.

"Knuckles."

"With Knuckles?" Amy finished, placing a hand in her hip. Tails was going to step out of the shadow of his sister figure, but with the arrival of the stranger, he decided to stay where was. Never could be too careful.

"You'll understand what's going on soon. We don't have a lot of time to talk." Shadow peered around the pinkette to look at the kit. "Tails, do you own a plane?"

Knuckles, when the puzzle pieces came together in his head, mumbled under his breath, "So that's your plan…"

Tails wasn't caught off guard about the fact that Shadow just asked a question that came straight out of left field, but the fact that he could say yes to that seemingly random question. "I-I do…"

Shadow inwardly sighed in relief. "Good. I need to use it."

"Ya do?"

"You do?"

"…Seriously? W-Why?"

"I'll tell you on the way. We have to hurry."

Amy tilted her head in confusion, but nodded anyway. "Okay…We don't live that far away from here." She and Tails started to run in the direction of their house; Rogue and Shadow immediately followed before the latter glanced behind himself.

"Let's go, Knuckles. You're not getting out of this." The former guardian grumbled under his breath, but complied with Shadow's command.

Those two catch back up with the other three quickly and Amy didn't hesitate to ask her question. "What's going on, Shadow?"

"Eggman is what's going on." Amy almost tripped over her own feet. Eggman? He thought of another scheme? After what happened about six months ago, she would've thought the doctor would've given up. Amy was pretty certain he did… "We saw an airship of his heading toward Angel Island. I was planning to stop it."

"You're a pilot?" Rogue stole Amy's question.

Shadow shook his head. "No, that's why I'm going to need you, Tails."

Blue eyes widened at the statement, slightly scared to get even near Eggman. "Me? But I-"

"It's alright, bro." Amy smiled sweetly at him. "I'll be right by your side."

"I'm sorry, Amy, but you need to stay here, along with Rogue."

The two mentioned gaped at Shadow, for different reasons.

"What?! You want to separate me and Tails…after what I told you earlier today?!"

"Are you serious? Why can't I come with you?"

Shadow answered both questions at once. "Because I want you two to guard the city while we're gone. Just in case he's not the one flying the ship. If he isn't, then he could easily deploy robots in the city."

"Are you crazy?" Rogue was seriously doubting the hedgehog's thought process. "If Sonic found out-"

"Sonic wouldn't care." Knuckles cut him off from the back of the group. "He doesn't do anything unless the city is being threatened right then and there. If Eggman doesn't attack Station Square, which he always will because he always boasts that Eggmanland would start out there, Sonic thinks that people should handle their own local problems. If you told him outright that you were guarding from Eggman, he would go along with his business until the doctor himself showed up."

Rogue frowned, adding 'prick' to the list of words that Blue was. "Alright, but how do you know that?"

Knuckles shrugged. "I confronted him about it." That's all he said, thinking that he didn't need to go on any further.

Amy was still iffy about this. "But, if robots _did_ storm Station Square, Sonic would just take care of them. In fact, why aren't we just leaving this whole thing to Sonic? Why do we have to get involved in this at all?"

"Because I'm here." Shadow said lowly, almost a growl. "And I'm not like Sonic who waits until the last minute to stop Eggman." This blue hedgehog and the Sonic he knew best were like the sun and the moon. Yin and yang. Water and fire. Complete opposites. "I'd rather prevent any possible casualties and damage that fighting Eggman in the city might cause. Wouldn't you?"

Amy thought about it for a moment, going around a tree. "Let's just say I go with your plan…"

Tails gasped and looked at her. "You can't, Amy! I want you to come with me…"

The pinkette smiled at the kit. "Listen Tails, you have to go out on your own someday. We can't be together twenty-four seven. I know what happened yesterday with Sonic, but I'm positive that Shadow will keep you safe." She glanced over to said Mobian and he nodded.

"B-But…"

Amy sighed. "Tails. Would you rather go with Shadow and know that he would protect you, or stay with me in Station Square where you could always run into Sonic again?"

The fox really didn't want to be away from Amy, but she did have a point. "F-Fine."

She laughed. "Great!" Amy then resumed what she was saying before. "Let's say I go with your plan and we 'guard' the city. What are we going to do against his robots?"

"Yeah, what _are_ we gonna do?"

"Well, Amy can use her hammer." The pinkette was about to protest, but Shadow interrupted her. "You know if you swing that hard enough, you can break through anything. Rogue, use your legs. You have powerful kicks especially if you twist with them."

The bat blinked. "Powerful…kicks? Okay, how do you know _that?"_

Shadow shrugged. "Gut feeling."

"I have one last question."

The Ultimate Lifeform looked over to Amy. "Yes?"

"If Eggman does send robots, do we fight, or let Sonic handle it?"

"Fight." He answered immediately. "If you're scared of him, then just help out without him seeing. I have a feeling that Eggman isn't going to do what he 'usually does'. When was his last attack?"

"Half a year ago." Knuckles responded. That was a long break for the doctor, Shadow thought. Eggman would usually try something new after a couple weeks of a failure plan, at most a month. The hedgehog _was_ in a different place and maybe this Eggman waited this long regularly; however, with Knuckles and Rogue saying something earlier about the doctor, Shadow doubted that was the case.

"I just have a feeling that Sonic would need back up this time if something does happen."

Rogue huffed, flapping his wings. "If you think so, man."

"Better safe than sorry. I'm in." Amy said before stopping in front a white one story house. It was a bit small, but it was big enough to room two people. Besides, the separate garage to the right of the home made up for it. The door was up and Shadow saw that the space was filled with different types of tools and machinery. In the middle of the chaos was a plane, exactly how Shadow remembered it looking like. The pinkette gestured to the garage. "Here we are."

Shadow skated quickly over to the plane. It seemed to be in working condition. He gestured for the kit still lingering by Amy's side to come over. "Let's go Tails. Come start the plane."

The fox gulped nervously before steeling himself and jogging over to the plane, jumping into the pilot seat. The plane rumbled lowly as Tails started it. Shadow hopped up on one of the wings before turning his attention to Knuckles who was standing nowhere near the flying vehicle. One harsh glare made the echidna huff and climb onto the plane, settling down in the seat behind Tails.

"Dude…" Rogue called up from his place beside Amy. "Are you sure that you'll be okay standing on the wing like that?"

Shadow nodded. "Don't worry about me."

"Tails, be sure to bring the Hurricane back safe and sound. Everyone else too, alright?"

The Hurricane? Shadow guessed it was close enough to tornado.

The kit grinned nervously down at Amy. "I-I will."

"Remember, Shadow's got your back."

"G-Gotcha!"

"If you're ready Tails, we have to go." Shadow crossed his arms after balancing himself. His only answer was the slow roll of the plane moving out of the garage. It traveled faster and faster until they were up in the air. Knuckles, sprawled all over the seat, automatically pointed the kit in the right direction.

* * *

Rogue and Amy watched as the plane turned into a dot in the blue sky before disappearing. They stood in awkward silence for a moment with a flush gradually crawling across the hedgehog's cheeks until the bat broke the looming quiet. "So…whatdya think about our little situation here?"

Amy coughed a little, willing her blush down. "I don't know…We have to protect the city from a danger that might happen…

"Hey, like you said, 'Better safe than sorry' right?"

The pinkette linked her hands behind her back. "Yeah…It's just that even though Shadow seems to believe in us, I think this could be too much for just two people."

"Three." Rogue corrected.

"Well, three." Amy looked up at the sky. "I got a feeling that something's not right, like Shadow."

The bat shoved his hand in his pockets. "Me too. You would think that losing an arm would keep Eggman from trying again."

The pinkette hummed in agreement. "I just wish that it wasn't only us two with Sonic, just in case things got ugly."

Rogue made a clicking sound in the back of his throat before smirking. "It doesn't have to be."

"What do you mean?"

He held up his cell phone. "I've got an old friend that could probably help us." Rogue flipped it open and started to scroll through his contacts. "I met him a long time ago while I was visiting this amusement park on Carnival Island. It's been so long; I wonder if he'll remember me." The bat clicked a number and held the device up to his ear. After a couple seconds, he said, "Hello? You there?"

Amy heard a muffled voice on the other end. Rogue chuckled at whatever was said. "What? What do ya mean 'Who is this'? It's me, Rogue! Forgot me already?" There was a booming laugh on the other end that the hedgehog could hear. "I'm doin fine! You? …That's great…Listen, are you busy right now? …Great, because we need your help…Uh, it's me and this girl named Amy…No! She's too young for me bro!" Amy frowned a little at that comment. "I need you to come to Station Square…It's Eggman…Nothing happened yet, but we need you just in case."

"_SO YOU WANT ME TO COME DOWN THERE-"_

Rogue held the phone as far away from him as possible. He nervously smirked at Amy. "Ah…I'm going to try to convince him. I'm going to put some distance between you and me so I won't be responsible for you doing deaf. This guy has a set of lungs on him." The bat flapped his wings and flew away. "Please, just think about it Vector…" That was all Amy heard before he was out of earshot.

She shuffled her feet as she watched Rogue fly around, occasionally pulling the phone away from his ear. The bat had the right idea about calling a friend. Amy glanced over to Tails' toolbox he put down in the garage before he left. Her feet carried her over to the box and she had her phone in her hand before she knew it. Amy fumbled her phone in her hands for a while, eventually making up her mind. He might be hard to handle sometimes, but he could be of some help.

The pinkette clicked the right number and put it on speakerphone. She leaned on the shelf in front of her, the phone lying in front. After a few rings, a familiar voice answered the phone. _"Hello_?" There was other commotion in the background, but the voice was still clear.

Amy was cautious; she didn't know what mood he was in. "Hey…"

"_Oh! Hey Amy! How's it going?"_

She let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. Happy was a good start. "I'm fine. I know that we haven't talked in a while, but I need to cut to the chase. I need your help."

"_For what?" He laughed. "Do you want me to come down there and tell you which dress you look better in? Because I'd rather not."_ So far so good.

"I wish it's something that simple. I need you here to help with Eggman."

"_Wait a minute, I can't hear you. Let me go somewhere quiet." _

"_Where are you going?" _Whose voice did that belong to?

"_To the bathroom! I'll be out in a minute, Charmy! Just don't get on any rides without me!" There was the slamming of a door. "That's better. Can you repeat what you said?"_

Amy was a little surprised that he'd found another friend to hang out with. She guessed Charmy could handle him, but this character sounded a bit young… "I said that I need your help with Eggman."

"_Eggman? Eggman?! Are you okay now? You're not in any danger right now, right? Is he attacking Station Square? Or maybe it's already in ruin and you're on the run! Are you hurt? Cut? Bruised? Bleeding internally?"_

And there it was. The paranoia. Amy knew it wouldn't last long. "Calm down! I'm fine! Nothing's happening yet and it might not happen at all!"

"_Are you completely sure?"_

"Yeah, can you come?"

"_Definitely! I'll come help you!" _ Back to happy again. _"Do you mind if I bring Charmy?"_

Amy blinked. "Uh…I guess not."

"_Great! See you soon!"_ _There was a click._

The pinkette sighed as she closed her phone. Silver could be such a handful sometimes…


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer- If I owned Sonic the hedgehog, Sonic X would have to be on Adult Swim.**

**Chapter 12- Phone calls**

A shrill ring piercing the air startled a specific person out of the daze he was in, almost losing control of the vehicle he was manning. Wide eyes searched everywhere for the source of the noise until they landed on a little speaker on the dashboard. He slowed down he's rapid breathing when he realized that it was just someone calling in. He then let out a heavy sigh, knowing that only one person would try to contact him right now.

The man almost didn't want to answer; he was slightly intimidated by this person, however he had to try to talk his way out of the situation he had gotten himself into. It had sounded like a good idea at first, but he had thought about all of the things that could go wrong. The man ran a hand down his face before he pressed a button beside the speaker. A familiar voice immediately came through.

"_What took you so long to answer?"_

The man scratched his cheek. "Well…"

"_Hn. It's not important. So, did you get it?"_

"Yes, but-"

"_Perfect. The first step in our plan has been completed. You do remember step two, correct?"_

He felt slightly offended, but didn't comment about that. "Yes…but-"

"_Excellent. Keep this up, and soon-"_

The man had enough. "Stop interrupting me!" His shout was met with an eerie silence and he swallowed nervously, thinking that he had just made a serious mistake. He had to say what he needed to now; it was too late to turn back. "I-I don't want to do this anymore. This plan sounded so good a few months ago, but I don't want to do another scheme. I nearly lost my _life _last time." He brought down his fist hard, not feeling the dull pain that was supposed to follow the action. "And another thing, the months before you came to me, I thought about how precious life was. And how I've taken that away from people, multiple times."

It was still deathly silent on the other end.

Nervousness was kicking in, but he kept going. "Somehow, when you talked to me, your words about a 'new era' and 'a wonderful future' had me going for a while, making me forget. But now…I want to stand back with my belief before you came to me." He glared at nothing. "I'm not going to cause any more pain and suffering." The man was then shocked when he heard laughter coming from the speaker.

"_What? Showing some remorse, Eggman?" _The other continued to laugh.

The doctor scowled, after being relieved over the fact that his shout from before hadn't angered the other, and yelled, "Why are you laughing?" He gritted his teeth. "This isn't funny!"

All noise stopped on the other end, then, _"You're damn right it isn't."_ Cold sweat formed on Eggman's forehead. The other was speaking so strangely calm…he wished that the other was yelling at him. That wouldn't have sent an uneasy shiver down his back. _"Eggman. You better take that Master Emerald where it's supposed to go. You are a part of this now and you will not back out. Eggman, we are working toward the dream you always had, always boasted about. With my plan and your technology and supplies, we can make this happen. All you need to do is follow the right path, but if you stray away from it…"_

There was a snicker that reminded the doctor of a sound a serial killer or psychopath would make closing in on their victim.

"…_You'll never see me coming."_

It was then and there that Eggman knew he was trapped.

* * *

"SO YOU WANT ME TO COME DOWN THERE TO HELP ON THE OFF CHANCE THAT EGGMAN MIGHT ATTACK STATION SQUARE? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING TO ME RIGHT NOW?"

There was loud banging on the wall to his left. "Shut _up!_ You're not the only one in this complex, you know!"

The green crocodile brought the phone down and covered it with his gloved hand. He glared at the wall, hoping at his neighbor could feel its heat. "Right back at cha! Can't you see that I'm RANTING HERE?!"

There was another pound. "Just close your giant mouth! Or do I need to call for the landlord, again?"

Vector's jaws snapped shut immediately. The landlord was bad news. The reptile really didn't need his rent to be raised again. He was barely scrapping by with the money he was getting from his job working as a busboy at a nearby café. Actually, Vector was sure he was going to get kicked out if the landlord had to come.

Muttering darkly under his breath, the croc returned his attention to the phone. "Look, Rogue, I don't think that I can. I gotta be at work in a while."

"_Please, just think about it Vector…"_

Said Mobian leaned back in his recliner as he adjusted his headphones that were hanging where his head met his torso. He was looking at the TV in front of him, but not really watching the show, too preoccupied with his phone call. "Why do you even need my help anyway? Isn't uhh…" Vector racked his brain for a name, then the light bulb went off. "Isn't Sonic there to take care of things?" The croc had heard of the hedgehog that protected Station Square with all of his heart. Must be a really cool guy.

"_Um…yeah, he is…but don't ya think that four is better than three?"_

"From what I've heard before, one was plenty. Sonic takes care of the whole city."

"_Ugh! I know! But, just please come?"_

"Rogue, Station Square is half an hour away from here! Do you know how long that is? I can't just up and leave when I have a job to do!"

"_Please? We could always use more power!"_

"No."

"_Please?"_

"No!"

"_Please?"_

"Rogue…"

"_I can do this all day. Please?"_

"FINE, ALRIGHT? FINE!"

Vector's already present frown grew when his wall trembled yet again. "I swear to Chaos that I'll evict you myself if you _don't stop shouting!_"

The reptile had to bite his lip to keep from yelling every obscenity known to man at his neighbor. Swallowing the words, he continued to talk to Rogue softly. "I can't believe that I'm doing this, but I'll be there." Hopefully his employer won't get too angry that he missed today. "What's your address?"

"_Well, I'm actually not at my place. Hold up a sec."_ Rogue's voice got noticeably quieter. Vector guessed that the other was talking away from the phone. _"Hey Amy, what's your address? …Ok._ _Hey Vec." _It was louder again.

"Yeah?"

"_You got some paper or somethin' so you can write this down?"_

"Hm…I gotta find some." Vector looked around his little apartment and eventually found a pen and a paper napkin. "Okay. Go ahead." Rogue told the reptile the address and he wrote it down sloppily. The croc sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this for you kid…"

"_What! I'm not a kid! I'm a legal adult, only two years younger than you!"_

Vector waved his hand dismissively like the other was in the room with him. "Specifics, specifics. See ya, Rogue." He hung up and stood up, grabbing his keys to his jeep off the coffee table in front of him. "He's lucky that I have a ride. If I didn't, there was no way that I'll go all the way over there." He turned off the TV and walked toward the front door. He opened it while looking backwards, making sure that nothing was left on, like the stove or something. That would've been bad.

When everything seemed fine, Vector nodded to himself before facing forward only to nearly have a heart attack. He placed a hand over his chest as he stared wide-eyed at the guy in front of him. It was a purple chameleon with a yellow horn protruding from his head. He had his arms crossed and his gold eyes were staring at Vector oddly.

The green reptile calmed back down after a while, regaining his breath. "Geez! You can't do that to a person!"

The chameleon smirked and let out a small chuckle. "My apologies."

Vector rolled his eyes. "Well THAT sounded sincere."

"I'm truly sorry for surprising you." His mouth was still twisted slightly upwards, but the croc forgave him anyway.

"So…why are you at my door?" Vector asked, flipping off his lights and shutting the door, locking it. He and the other were standing out in the hallway now.

"I was curious." The bigger one raised an eyebrow and the chameleon elaborated. "You see, I'm your neighbor and-"

"Wait! Are you that jerk that keeps pounding on my wall?" Vector glared down at the other suspiciously.

The reptile blinked, confused. "Someone pounds on your wall?"

The glare quickly melted away. This wasn't that guy. Vector rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Apparently I'm too loud. Can you believe that?"

The chameleon avoided his gaze and hummed, "Well…"

"WHAT?! IF YOU CAME TO TALK TO ME JUST TO COMPLAIN-"

The smaller of the two held up his hands. "Calm down. I came because I was curious, remember?" Vector huffed, but let him continue. "In my room, I heard you yelling something about Eggman attacking Station Square. Is that true?"

"Oh, I guess you heard that, huh?"

"It was hard not to…" He muttered under his breath.

"What was THAT?"

"Nothing. Continue."

Vector narrowed his eyes. "Mhmm." He blew the little comment off. "Back to your question, it's kinda true. My friend called me up wanting me to go basically guard the city with him and some other chick just in case Eggman attacks. He isn't doing it yet, but he _might._" He mocked. "Now I've got to go drive half an hour down there…" The croc started to walk down the hallway toward the elevator. He really didn't want to take five floors of stairs to the first floor.

The chameleon kept in step with him. "Would your friend mind if an extra person came?"

Vector pressed the down button on the wall. "Nah, I don't think so."

"Okay. Would _you_ mind if I accompany you?" The two reptiles stepped onto the elevator and the smaller pressed the first floor button.

The croc raised a brow. "No, but you want to come with me, a person you _just_ met, to go to Station Square."

The chameleon eyed the other. "Yes. Why? Are you some criminal that I need to be cautious of?"

Vector shook his head vehemently. "No no! I was just sayin' that you and I are strangers." They both got out of the elevator, entering the lobby.

"Well then, let's get to know each other." The purple Mobian held out a hand. "I'm Espio."

Vector snorted before grinning. He shook the other's hand. "I'm Vector." The croc then blinked, thinking of something. He pointed at the other. "Hey! You started following me down here before I even answered your question! What's up with that?"

Espio's lips twitched upwards. "That's because I knew you'd say yes." He gestured toward the front door. "After you."

Vector stared dubiously at him. "What? You can see in the future or something?"

"See in the future? That's ridiculous. I just have something like a sixth sense when it comes to these things."

The croc rolled his eyes and headed toward the door, chameleon on his tail. "Uh huh, sure." Espio was probably just hoping that he would let him come. "Whatever you say."

* * *

"So how are you liking the park, Charmy?" A white hedgehog asked, crunching on the cone of his half-eaten ice cream.

A young bee was sitting at the other side of the table they were at, happily eating some cotton candy. "It's so fun!" He answered with a bright smile. "Thanks Silver!"

Said Mobian laughed. "I told you I'd take you at the end of the week." He gestured around him, to all the rides, food stands, and games. "And here we are!" The two friends watched as other friends and families enjoyed themselves as they walked around the large amusement park, having fun. Silver eventually finished his ice cream cone and saw Charmy eat the last of the fluffy candy, throwing the stick in the closest trashcan.

They both stood up from their table and searched the nearby area. "What are we gonna do next?" Silver looked over to his young friend.

Charmy hovered in the air and immediately answered, "Let's go on more rides!"

Silver chuckled. "Didn't we get on every rollercoaster?"

The bee shook his head. "I don't think so." He rose up higher in the air and pointed to something in the distance. "Look! Look! No we didn't! There's a whooole bunch of rides over there that we haven't ridden yet!"

The hedgehog put a hand over his eyes to shade them as he followed Charmy's finger. "Seriously? Cool! I thought we would have to go home!" Silver gestured to the bee. "Well then, let's g-" He was cut off by a familiar chime coming from his quills.

Charmy lowered himself and peered at the other's head. "Hey, I think that's your phone."

"Yeah, I hear it." Silver carefully reached in his quills and pulled out his ringing phone. "Huh, I wonder who it is…" He answered it. "Hello?"

"_Hey…"_

Even though it was kind of hard to hear the voice over all of the noise of the park, Silver immediately recognized it. "Oh! Hey Amy! How's it going?" It's great hearing her voice again, it's been a long time since he last talked to her.

"_I'm fine. I know that we haven't talked in a while, but I need to cut to the chase. I need your help."_

Charmy looked at Silver curiously and the hedgehog mouthed, 'My friend Amy. Remember I talked about her?' The bee thought for a second before nodding. Silver returned his focus to the phone. "For what?" He laughed. "Do you want me to come down there and tell you which dress you look better in? Because I'd rather not." The insect chuckled and he smiled at his little joke.

A loud group of people then decided to walk by. _"I…wish…that simple. I…you…to help…"_

Silver tried to block out the noise, but couldn't. "Wait a minute, I can't hear you. Let me go somewhere quiet." He looked around a bit before finding the restroom. That was a perfect place as any. He started to run over there.

"Where are you going?" Charmy called.

"To the bathroom! I'll be out in a minute, Charmy! Just don't get on any rides without me!" Silver entered the bathroom and vaguely noticed that it was empty. The loud voices became almost nonexistent. "That's better." The hedgehog went over to a mirror and fixed a quill that was out of place. "Can you repeat what you said?"

"_I said that I need your help with Eggman."_

Silver's gut dropped and his blood ran cold. His knees got so weak that he had to lean on the sink to keep from collapsing. Oh Chaos…What was going on over there?! "Eggman? Eggman?! Are you okay now? You're not in any danger right now, right? Is he attacking Station Square?" Silver started to hyperventilate. "Or maybe it's already in ruin and you're on the run! Are you hurt? Cut? Bruised? Bleeding internally?" She could be on her last breath! What was he going to do?

"_Calm down! I'm fine! Nothing's happening yet and it might not happen at all!"_

The white hedgehog's breathing started to slow back down. "Are you completely sure?"

"_Yeah, can you come?"_

Silver suddenly smiled, like he wasn't just about to pass out from shock. He raked his hand through his quills. "Definitely! I'll come help you!" He glanced over to the door. "Do you mind if I bring Charmy?"

"_Uh…I guess not."_

"Great! See you soon!" Silver hung up the phone and replaced it back in his thick fur. He then ran out of the bathroom and towards Charmy who was doing some tricks midair. "Charmy! Guess what!"

The bee paused what he was doing upside down before righting himself. "What?"

"We're going to Station Square to help Amy out! It has something to do with Eggman."

The bee pumped his fist. "Woohoo! Road trip!" As he looked around, his mood fell a bit. "Wait, so we won't get to ride those rides?"

Silver then felt very guilty for taking the other out of the park. He hugged the unsuspecting bee. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The hedgehog patted the other on his back and Charmy just let it happen, used to it. The extreme moods were unpredictable sometimes, but Silver was still a great friend nonetheless. "I promise that we'll come back later to ride those rollercoasters!" Silver pulled away from him, hands still on Charmy's shoulders. "I promise, okay?"

The kid smiled widely. "Okay!"

"Are you sure? I don't want-wait." Silver dropped his arms and looked in the direction of their home. A grin slowly crawled up on his muzzle. "Do you think Amy will be upset if I brought Blaze with us?"

Charmy, dismissing the sudden mood change, just shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not the one who knows her."

Silver tapped his chin. "She'll be fine, I know."

Charmy frowned a little. "Are you sure you want to bring her? She's not even litter box trained yet!"

The hedgehog waved him off. "I'll just bring a ton of newspapers." He activated his psychokinesis and his body was covered in a blue glow. Silver floated off the ground. "Don't worry so much, Charmy. Let's go!" He took off into the air with the young bee trailing him.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer- If anyone says that I own Sonic and co., they are lying. There is no drop of truth in those words.**

**Chapter 13- The guardians unite and team Shadow heads in**

"So…you coulda told me that you were going to call your friend too."

Rogue was sprawled out on the only couch in the small living room in the cozy house. He was enjoying his little down time watching a semi-interesting channel on TV before his friend came and they had to head out to protect Station Square. After talking with Vector, he just flew around the area, feeling wind beneath his wings for fun. Now, the bat was content doing nothing lounging around until Amy told him that her friend plus another were joining them as well. Even though he was fine with it, Rogue knew that Vector would have a fit, knowing that there was going to be more help and that the croc could've just stayed home. Now Rogue felt bad, remembering that Vector said something about having to work. It was too late to call Vec back to tell him to not come.

"If you did, I wouldn't have called mine." Rogue glanced pointedly over to Amy who was whistling a random tune looking out of the front window, watching out for her friend Silver and some other who wanted to come, Charmy. Teal eyes were swirling with a small amount of irritation.

The pinkette huffed and turned to him, about to defend herself, but then she realized that he was looking straight at her. Amy froze as she took in the bright and clear eyes. She didn't care if they were angry; she just couldn't keep herself from being pulled into- Ah! Stop it Amy! You're supposed to be trying to defend yourself, remember?

Clearing her throat, she turned away from him and resumed looking out of the window, getting together her previously scattered thoughts. "Actually, I called Silver because you called Vector. I thought it was a good idea. What's the matter with extra help?"

Rogue thought that moment when Amy just stopped moving was strange, but he just passed it off as gas or something. He took his eyes off her and sighed, scratching his cheek. "Nothin's wrong with it…" Rogue groaned and ran his hands down his face. "…Just get ready for an angry croc."

Amy rose a brow and glanced back over to Rogue, inwardly sighing in relief when he wasn't still looking at her. "What do you mean by tha-" The doorbell then suddenly rang, cutting off her question.

The bat focused on the door and the muffled voices outside. When his ears detected unfamiliar voices, he regarded Amy, knowing that it was her friends at the door. "They're yours." He said, keeping his eyes on the wood. Rogue was slightly curious about what the strangers looked like and their personality. If they were anything like Sonic, he was going to be as far away from them as possible. However, he doubted that Amy would keep that kind of company.

"Okay!" The pinkette smiled as she went over to the door. She was actually excited to see Silver again. It had been a year since they saw each other. The white hedgehog came over to visit and they had fun. It was unexpected, but Tails actually got along with the other pretty nicely even though Silver was unpredictable sometimes. Amy guessed that the other gave off that he didn't mean any harm at all and Tails clung to that. The little kit would be so excited to see Silver again.

Twisting the doorknob, Amy pulled open the door before quickly jumping to her right when a flying something, or someone, almost barreled her over. Surprised, Amy turned back to see a young bee hovering everywhere in her house, amber eyes darting everywhere in curiosity. Rogue was a shocked as she was, following the movements of the bee seemingly on a sugar high. And why was the he holding crumped up newspaper?

A familiar laugh made Amy turn back around to the front. Silver waved a dismissive hand, chuckling. "Don't mind Charmy. He's hyped up on candy he got at home after we left the amusement park."

"That's Charmy?"

"Yep!" Silver replied, stepping inside. He looked around the place, ignoring the buzzing coming from wings and a hyper mouth. "This place is exactly the same." A nostalgic smile appeared on his muzzle.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, nothing changed." She snuck a glance over to the bee who was handling a glass vase roughly, newspaper tucked under his arm. "If you don't mind me asking, how old is Charmy?"

"He's six. His birthday is actually in a week."

"Six?!" Rogue asked, only really catching the age. "Amy, how is this kid gonna help us guard the city?"

Before the girl could speak, Silver stepped toward Rogue, eyeing him. "Who are you? A friend of Amy's?"

Rogue had to think about it for a second. He had just met the girl _really _not two hours ago, but he was going to spend an undetermined amount of time working with her, so he guessed she was. "Yeah." Standing up, the bat noticed that the male hedgehog was seemingly younger than him, but still a teenager. Thank Chaos because he didn't know how they were going to handle another kid. "The name's Rogue. And I'm guessing that your name is Silver."

Silver stared at the bat for a moment longer before grinning and holding out a hand. "Yep. Nice to meet you, Rogue. You ready to protect the city from the fatso?"

Rogue chuckled at the other's words and an identical grin to the hedgehog's appeared on his face, deciding that the younger was on his good side already. "You bet I a-"

The three mammals then winced as a sharp crash filled the air, slightly startling all of them. They all turned toward the source of the noise and saw Charmy looking apologetic with shards of glass in a pile in front of him. Amy knew what it was immediately and agitation built up inside her. That vase cost a hundred dollars! But before she could say anything, the atmosphere suddenly got tense. Amy and Rogue looked at each other before focusing on Silver. They both took a step away from him, seeing the death glare shooting out of yellow eyes. Rogue was completely confused. Silver was just as happy as can be, but now he looked like a seething wolf! What just happened?

Charmy, seeing Silver's heated gaze, swallowed thickly, a bit nervous. He wasn't scared, because he knew that Silver wouldn't hurt him, but the bee couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive. Happy, sad, guilty, cocky, depressed, hyper, scared, sarcastic, shy, bold, protective, paranoid…Charmy could handle all of those moods perfectly. Anger…It was just anger that he couldn't handle. When Silver got angry, he got _furious_, like all of his other moods he could switch to at the drop of a dime. The hedgehog went to the extremes with all of them, so now it's obvious why the bee was tense.

Silver silently and stiffly walked over to the kid, glaring the whole time. Amy held her hand out to attempt to grab his shoulder to stop him, but backed out of it halfway through. She was hoping that nothing would rile Silver up like this. This was what she was nervous about when she called him earlier; she didn't want to talk to an angry Silver.

Standing in front of Charmy, the white hedgehog pointed a finger right in the other's face, scowling. "What in the hell was that, Charmy?" Silver growled out, sending daggers. "You haven't been in here for five minutes and you're already _breaking something._" His frown deepened. "Don't. Touch. Anything. Else. Do you understand?" Charmy nodded immediately, wanting for Silver to switch to another mood soon.

"Meow…"

The tense and almost palpable air faded away as Silver cocked his head down at the bee, rage draining away from his features. Charmy, happy about the fact that the hedgehog was done with his little rant, just held his hands up and shrugged. "It wasn't me! I'm not the cat here, remember?"

A bright smile stretched across Silver's face and he dug into his fluffy fur on his chest. He then pulled out something equally as fluffy and started to snuggle it, cooing softly. Charmy giggled. Affectionate was another one. Let's not forget affectionate.

Rogue's mind was reeling. Happy, furious, and now Silver was hugging…was that a _purple_ kitten? Amy, more used to her friend's quirks than the bat, asked Rogue's question. "Um…Silver?" Said Mobian turned toward her, petting the purring kitten. He raised a brow as an answer. Amy couldn't take her eyes off the furry baby Siamese. She pointed. "Who is that?"

Silver held the uncommonly colored kitten out. The feline squirmed in his grip some before getting as comfortable as it could being held from under its front legs. "This is Blaze!" The kitten mewed in response to her name and Silver cuddled her again.

Charmy flew over and petted Blaze, smiling when he got a purr. "We got her a couple weeks ago. She was actually just wobbling on the street our apartment is on and we just took her in! We think that she's at least fourteen weeks old." The bee then scattered the newspaper out on the floor. "She'll go on the paper if she needs to go to the bathroom while we're gone." He laughed nervously. "Hopefully!"

Amy stared at the kitten in Silver's arms. Now that she's over her initial surprise, the female hedgehog actually thought the little feline was cute, if not weird because of the pet's color. The pinkette shrugged it off; Amy herself was an unusual color.

Rogue rubbed his temples, muttering to himself. This was going to be one stressful mission. He could tell. Silver was still on his good side, but now the bat had labeled him as unstable and a complete lunatic. But hey, the hedgehog hadn't done anything wrong to him yet, so they were still cool.

The door was then knocked upon and Rogue, closest to the door, went over to open it. His stress was put on hold for a while, knowing who it was at the door. It had to be the one and only…"Vector! Long time no see!" Rogue held up a fist and the croc grinned and bumped it after taking his headphones off.

"Right back at cha!" Vector sent the bat a weak playful glare. "You better wish that something exciting is gonna happen down at the Square, or you're gonna come over to _my_ place and do my chores for a week."

Rogue shook his hands back and forth in front of him. "Whoa! Isn't that too…" He gave up and sighed. "Fine…" It was fair. Even though he would rather the city _not_ be attacked, he guessed he would owe Vector.

The croc looked past him to Amy. "So she's the one we're working with?"

Rogue rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…and a couple more."

Charmy then buzzed over to Rogue's side, waving at the reptile. "Hi! Me and my friend Silver are here help with Eggman too! I'm Charmy!"

The croc stared at the bee blankly before focusing back on the bat slightly worried for his wellbeing. "So…" Vector's voice was low. "You're telling me that you already had help and I CAME HERE FOR NO-"

There was a sigh behind the croc. "Before you go off on them, may I introduce myself first?" Still upset, the green Mobian huffed and stepped inside. An unfamiliar chameleon entered after him. The horned Mobian eyed all of the occupants in the room before landing on Rogue with a nod. "Pleased to meet you, all of you. I'm Espio."

Vector crossed his arms, taking his eyes off the strange sight of a white hedgehog nearly asphyxiating a purple kitten with hugs, and glanced sharply at Rogue. "He came along for the ride."

"Yes." Espio smiled. "I heard that you all are going to guard the city, and I want to help out."

Amy clasped her hands together. "That's cool! The more the merrier!" She walked over to Vector and Espio. "My name's Amy. Now that everyone's here, are we ready to go?"

"Hey!" Vector gestured to himself. "I'm still angry here!"

Rogue patted him on the back. "And you can take that all out on Eggman if we get to see 'em!"

Amy nodded, smiling. "Especially then. If everyone's ready…" She turned her head around to look at Silver and she rolled her eyes. "Silver, you're going to have to leave Blaze here until we get back."

The white hedgehog puffed his cheeks, but gave in. "Okay…" He put the kitten down and she promptly peed on the newspaper underneath. "Huh...I'm glad I put you down…" Silver chuckled to himself before joining the others by the door. He pumped his fist. "Alright! Let's go! We have a city to save!"

"If it needs it." Amy added.

"If it needs it!" The hedgehog repeated. That gained a little laugh from the newly formed group.

Amy then remembered something of extreme importance. She looked at everyone except Rogue, knowing that he wouldn't go against her because he had experience as well. "Everyone, whatever you do, don't talk to Sonic if you see him."

"Why?" Vector asked, mood lifting because he realized that group work wasn't going to be so bad. And that this group full of lightweights was going to need him for strength. "He does protect the city."

"I don't care." She looked him in the eye. "Do. Not. Engage. Okay? You'll thank me later."

The croc actually took a step back from Amy. "Alright! Geez…" With that little warning in everyone's mind, they all exited the house and quickly made their way toward Station Square.

They would learn soon, however, that trust shouldn't be given out so easily.

* * *

Almost…

Nearly there…

Just a couple more seconds and he'll be…

"Knuckles."

…Asleep. Dammit. So close…

The echidna cracked open a sleepy eye and focused on the hedgehog standing on the plane's wing, glaring at him. He yawned and opened his other eye with some effort. "What? Do you know how close I was to taking me a nap?"

Shadow frowned. "That's the problem. We need you to stay _awake_ to tell us where to go." During the entire ride, the Ultimate Lifeform had noticed that Knuckles was always on the border of being conscious and being dead to the world and he had to keep the other from falling under. How can the former guardian be so tired, anyway? He'd only been awake for no more than two hours!

Knuckles grumbled under his breath. He could never catch a break. "We're getting closer."

"W-Where?" Tails asked timidly from the front.

"Just keep straight, kid. You're going the right way." The echidna sunk lower in his seat and lowered his heavy lids. He would try to catch a few z's but he could tell without even looking that Shadow was watching him like a hawk. Humph, he wished that the other would just- Knuckles then felt as the Master Emerald took a left turn. "Turn left now." He told the kit before settling back down in his seat, letting out a puff of air.

As Tails followed his direction after a discreet worried glance back at Knuckles, Shadow tensed immediately, wondering why he told the fox to go the other way. "What's going on?"

"Eggman just changed directions a bit." He answered like it wasn't that big of a deal. It really wasn't. The natural routine was just starting again. Eggman would take it, Sonic would stop him later at Station Square, and Knuckles would get it back with minimal effort. But no…he actually had to get _involved_ this time.

Shadow nodded, not liking how things had turned out. He had wanted to get to Angel Island before Eggman and knew that there was a slim chance that they would do so, but Shadow had wished anyway so the doctor didn't have his hands on it at all. It would've been a hella lot easier that way; now they had to pry it away from Eggman's grasp.

"Do you have any idea where he is taking it?" The hedgehog questioned, thinking that this Knuckles would know the most about this Eggman, second only to Sonic. The moment Shadow thought of his doppelgänger's name, the Ultimate Lifeform resisted the urge to punch something, at the moment. Just wait, Sonic was going to be his punching bag as soon as this Eggman situation was over.

Knuckles shrugged, lazily reaching out his left hand to touch a cloud as they passed it, feeling the cool moistness seeping through his glove. "He's been quiet for a while, so he had probably built up some kind of elaborate lab to invent whatever crap he wants."

Just like before, Shadow thought as he looked in the direction they were going. He was about to respond to the former guardian, but something in his line of sight stopped him. Narrowing his eyes, the hedgehog could make out the airship in the distance moving away from them. A plan immediately formed in his head. Instead of taking out the aircraft, they should wait it out and follow it to Eggman's lab so they could destroy his toys _and_ take back the emerald. Without tools or inventions, it would be a while before he could do anything.

"Here's what we are going to do." Knuckles cut his eyes over to him and Tails' ears twitched, signifying that the kit was listening. Knowing that he had their attention, Shadow continued. "We are going to follow that thing to Eggman's lab and destroy it before grabbing the Master Emerald." Short and sweet. "Any objections?"

The echidna huffed. "And who made you the leader?"

"Oh?" Shadow rose a brow, feigning surprise. "You want to? Go ahead. Be my guest." Knuckles looked away, knowing full well that he wasn't fit to lead any type of team. Maybe to laze around, but not to lead an attack. The Ultimate Lifeform saw this and smirked. "I thought so." He focused on the fox. "What do you think of the plan, Tails?"

Tails blinked, shocked. He didn't think that Shadow would include him in the older Mobians' discussion. "I-I think i-it's fine…"

"Good. Let's get a little closer to the airship, but still out of sight. We don't want to lose it." Tail nodded and accelerated some to keep the flying vehicle in their sights.

An hour later, the trio was now hiding behind thick bushes, peering through the foliage at the entrance of the large lab that was being patrolled by two Eggrobos who were walking back and forth in front of the metal door. Red eyes followed their movements and their owner had to stifle a scoff. This was too easy. Eggman must've thought that because Sonic chose to stay in Station Square, he wasn't in any danger way out here. That's going to change today.

"I'm going to go over and take them out before they could set off any alarm." Shadow whispered to the Mobians on either side of him. "You two go to the door and Knuckles, you force it open."

"Hold up, so you're not going to do all the work?"

Shadow stared at Knuckles incredulously. "Seriously?"

"No." The echidna slumped. "But I was hoping."

The hedgehog just shook his head in exasperation. "You're hopeless." He faced forward again. "Alright, let's-"

"W-Wait." Shadow glanced to his right and saw Tails trembling slightly, staring at the weak robots with fear present in his eyes. He focused on the hedgehog. "I…I…" The kit swallowed thickly. "I can't do this. I've always been scared of E-Eggman. Can't I stay o-out here? You don't really need-"

"Yes we do, Tails." Shadow cut him off. "You do realize that you can fly, right?" Tails nodded. "Then you can help us fight. Believe it or not," The leader of the group pointed to the oblivious robots. "their weak spots are their heads. Because you can fly, you can hop on or kick the heads to oblivion." The kit opened his mouth to protest, but Shadow interrupted him again. "I told Amy that I'll protect you. I can't do that while I'm inside and you're out here, can I?"

Tails' resolve crumbled at the mention of Amy's name. "No…" He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I'll come."

"He wasn't going to leave you out here even if you wanted to stay outside." Knuckles clipped.

"I wanted for him to make the right choice, and he did." Shadow glared the echidna. The former guardian just shrugged, ending the argument before it really began. The hedgehog turned back to the entrance, knowing that any more words about it would just go over the other's head. He readied himself. "Let's go."

All three jumped over the bushes and Shadow dashed over to the first bot, taking it down in one hit. As he went over to the other one, Knuckles ran and Tails hovered quickly over to the steel door. The former pulled back a fist and punched the door, sending it flying inside and clanking against the floor.

As Tails cheered a bit on the inside, Knuckles curled and uncurled the hand he used. "Huh, I haven't done that in a while…" He muttered to himself.

Shadow then raced inside and froze in the hallway they all were in. When he heard nothing, he frowned. "There are no alarms." He said more to himself.

Knuckles crossed his arms. "And…?"

"I-I think he means that alarms should b-be going off…We did just break i-in." Tails provided quietly.

"So?" Knuckles gazed up at the ceiling. "Nobody ever bothers him in any of his labs, so what's the point installing a security system?"

Shadow still didn't like it. Maybe it was the fact that one could barely get inside one of the old Eggman's labs before alarms started to blare and red lights lit up the place, but he let it go for now. "We don't have time to think about it. We have to hurry to get the emerald." He ran down the empty hallway, not so fast that the other two couldn't keep up with him, and Tails hovered after the hedgehog.

Knuckles sagged his shoulders before running after them. Hurry, hurry, hurry…Was that all Shadow could think about? Walking there, which he preferred, would get them to the same place. The Master Emerald wasn't going anywhere. Eggman didn't even know that they were here! No alarms, no lights, no cameras from what he could see, and Shadow just took care of the only robots in sight. There was no need to hurry. The echidna just couldn't wait until this was over so he could watch clouds under a tree somewhere.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer- I don't own-**

**Charmy- The author doesn't own anyone from SEGA!**

**Sigh…thanks for that Char-**

**Charmy- No problem! I'm here to help!**

**Can you stop cut-**

**Charmy- Stop doing what?**

…**I give up.**

**Chapter 14- Getting the hell out of dodge**

Knuckles very quickly caught up with the skating hedgehog and the hovering fox after finishing his little internal rant against the former's haste. They all ended up in a loose triangle formation traversing down the hallways. Shadow was up in front while the other two flanked him at his sides, slightly behind him.

The Ultimate Lifeform barely noticed that the echidna was back with him and Tails. Knuckles was in the furthest back corner in his mind right now. He was immensely confused to why there were no robots roaming the halls. Shadow understood Knuckles' logic when he said that one wouldn't need an alarm when there wasn't anyone to barge in, but it seemed like the whole lab was empty. There were no robots in sight.

Yes, there were the two outside that Shadow took out without breaking a sweat, but the doctor he knew had robots everywhere in every single one of his labs or bases, and from the information that he was given, this Eggman didn't seem too different from the old one.

Shadow should be relieved and more at ease in this place knowing that there wasn't any immediate danger that he could see, but he felt the exact opposite. His nerves were growing every second and his eyes darted back and forth wildly, trying to find something that was out of place or that was to any danger to the trio. He found nothing.

The three anthropomorphic mammals sped down the vacant metal hallways, rounding corners and sprinting down the straightaways, not really knowing where they were going. Also, it was then that it occurred to them that the lab was way bigger on the inside than it looked like on the outside.

Searching for the main room that Eggman was no doubt residing in, Shadow and Knuckles ran right past a room with its door ajar. Tails, however, noticed it in the corner of his eye and grounded himself, backpedaling until he could understand to why exactly the very common sight had drawn him in this one time.

Pushing the door open slightly, sapphires widened in bewilderment as he took in the rumored beauty of the exceedingly rare gem. On the opposite wall stood a container that encased a purple Chaos emerald covered with a thin veil of clear glass. Its luminescent violet light was radiating off the jewel, covering the walls around it in a soft lavender hue.

The kit could barely contain his joy and excitement that only showed when the fox was introduced to a new toy, usually a tool. Believe it or not, this was the first time he had seen a Chaos emerald in real life, face-to-face. He knew all about them, sure, like how there were seven of them, how they reacted differently with various beings, and how they provided heaps of Chaos energy. He had done research on them because they were always some sort of a mystery to him. The kit had never been so close to one before. Tails had seen S-Son…_him_ go super once with all of the emeralds, but he was a great distance away from _any_ danger to see the emeralds beforehand. He was even more disappointed when the gems flew up and scattered to who-knows-where. He had always wanted to get his hands on one, and now was his chance!

Tails, with his namesakes swishing rapidly behind him, stepped into the room, too entranced by the Chaos emerald before him to call out to Shadow and Knuckles, too mesmerized to notice that the room was completely empty besides the held gem, and too captivated to realize that he had pushed down on a hidden pressure plate on the grey floor.

The fox snapped out of his slight daze when something heavy loudly closed behind him. Panic bubbling up in his system, Tails whirled around only to see with growing horror that a solid steel door had dropped down from the ceiling and blocked the fox's only exit. Gasping in disbelief, the kit ran back to the metal slab and started to beat on it, desperate to get out, realizing now that this whole room was a trap.

Tails pounded with all his might on the door. "H-Help!" He then paused when his sensitive ears picked up the high-pitched sound of machinery. Heart pounding, the fox slowly turn his head to see multiple iron pipes sticking out of all the walls. Swallowing thickly, Tails eyed them until they started to gush out water. Blue orbs widened to their fullest before the kit hit the opposing door with newfound vigor, the soles of his shoes getting damp. "Help me please! Shadow! K-Knuckles! _HELP!_"

Further up the hall and around a corner, Shadow stopped in his tracks when he heard the desperate call for help coming from a very familiar voice. The hedgehog turned on his heel to face Knuckles who was looking back the way they came. The echidna didn't know that the fox was gone until now. "Where's Tails?"

"From the way he's yelling," Shadow ran back down the hall, the echidna on his heels. "I think he's trapped somewhere close by." The hedgehog perked his ears, anxious to find the room the fox was held captive in. Thinking about if Amy ever knew about this, she would be furious at him for not watching her 'little brother'.

About a minute later, Shadow and Knuckles were both glaring hard at the giant unmovable obstacle in front of them, one set of eyes containing more heat than the other. The duo could hear the desperate calls from the other side along with a noise that wasn't so easy to decipher. What was it? A power saw? A river?

"Somebody! _Please _help me!" It sounded like Tails was on the verge of breaking down.

The fire in Shadow's eyes brazed brighter. "I'm here, Tails!" He yelled back, letting the fox cub know that he wasn't alone.

"Shadow! Y-You have to get me out of here! Th-There's water…and it's filling the room!" The hedgehog froze, shocked that his river guess wasn't too far off. "It's up to my ankles! I need to-" There was a choked sob coming from behind the door and Shadow sharply glanced over to a worried Knuckles.

The former guardian nodded and rotated his shoulder. "I've got this. You might want to get out of the way." His normally glazed violet eyes were sharp and focused, knowing that this was a dire situation. Standing a few feet away from the slab of metal, Knuckles waited until Shadow stepped to the side before counting to three in his head. At the final number, he gritted his teeth, reared back, and went for the door, punching with all his strength.

It didn't budge.

Knuckles blinked, not believing that this piece of scrap metal had held up to his strength. Not giving in, the red Mobian hit the door over and over again, alternating fists. Shadow saw that the echidna's punches weren't doing anything and deeply frowned. If he couldn't get through, the hedgehog wouldn't even try with his spin dash. "It's not working."

Knuckles pulled back and panted, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Yeah, I know." What he also knew was that he was going to sleep for a _long_ time after this was over. The energy he'd spent up to this point was a couple days' worth.

"What was that?"

"Knuckles was trying to get you out." The Ultimate Lifeform called back to Tails.

The echidna turned to Shadow with a raised brow. "What are we going to do?"

The hedgehog crossed his arms and prodded his brain quickly for an answer. Knuckles couldn't take down the door and water was slowly filling the room up, currently at Tails' ankles. If they hurried, they could find Eggman's room and hope that there was a button or switch to deactivate the door and let Tails out. They were going to have to book it before the water filled the room up the whole way.

"We're going to need to find Eggman's room as soon as possible so we can get the Master Emerald as well as find something to let up the door." Knuckles agreed, not really having a better plan himself. Shadow focused on the metal, regarding the Mobian on the other side. "Tails, we are going to have to leave so we can find a switch to let you out."

"No! Please don't leave me here!"

"We have to. Would you rather drown, or live to see another day?" Shadow hated how nasty that sounded, but he had to get his point across.

Tails bit his lip, cool water pooling around his lower legs. He didn't want to be alone, but common sense told him that Shadow and Knuckles had to go to find a way to save him. "G-Go…" He forced out. "But hurry back when you let me out!"

"Right. When the door rises, you stay out here in the hallway until we come and get you."

"Ok!"

"Oh!" Knuckles suddenly said, wanting to ask something. "Hey kid, can you swim?"

"Yeah…"

"Good, because that little ability might come in handy."

Shadow heard a soft whimper in the other side and he turned to glare at Knuckles. The echidna caught his gaze and shrugged. "What? It might."

Noting in his brain that he was going to have to get Knuckles some kind of filter for his mouth soon, the hedgehog was about to take off again. "We'll be right back." He yelled to Tails before skating off. With one more look at the steel door, Knuckles followed Shadow.

After five minutes of dashing side-by-side, the heroic duo finally found a door that was drastically larger than the others they had encountered. Like they were reading each other's minds, Shadow positioned himself for a spin dash, and Knuckles readied his namesakes. The two Mobians nodded to each other before attacking the door, bashing it in and making it clatter to the floor. They were lucky that this door wasn't as sturdy as the one holding Tails.

The loud bang jolted Eggman harshly as he shifted his gaze from the Master Emerald on his rather large desk to the two newcomers. The doctor then almost had a heart attack before he realized that the hedgehog glaring at him with blazing eyes wasn't Sonic. True, they both glared at him, but this one seemed…less dangerous than the blue one. Eggman glanced between the echidna he had seen around before and the unfamiliar hedgehog, very nervous. He hadn't expected anyone to come because no one ever did before! And the doctor knew exactly why they were here: the Master Emerald. Cold sweat formed on his brow. This was bad. If they took it…_he_ would be enraged…

Shadow, arms crossed, was about to demand for the doctor to hand over the M.E. and tell them where the switch was to the sealed room, but he caught sight of Eggman's left arm. It was prosthetic. Mechanics and wires made up his whole arm all the way to his five electronic fingers. So this was what Rogue and Knuckles was talking about...what happened to him? Wait, from what he had heard, only one person actually fought Eggman. Sonic did this…He didn't want to think about that right now.

Knuckles, knowing that Shadow had seen the arm and was surprised, took control of the situation. "Where's the button for the trap room, Eggman?" The echidna blinked before adding, "Oh, and give us back the Master Emerald."

The doctor had stopped listening after 'trap room'. He raised a brow, a confused frown on his face. "Trap room? I've never installed any…" Eggman glanced over to his right, zeroing in on a screen filled with static on the wall. "Hm…" He pulled out a drawer from his desk and saw a remote control with two buttons. One was labeled 'On' and the other was labeled 'Deactivate'. He took it and pressed the first button, making the screen show that Tails was now squatting on the container holding the purple emerald. "He must've installed this without me knowing…"

"Is that a Chaos emerald?"

"No." Shadow answered Knuckles after finally tearing his gaze away from the artificial limb. "It's fake." It's usually extremely difficult to tell real ones from the fake ones, but the Ultimate Lifeform was a pro at it mostly because the old Tails made the fake ones a lot. Rubies went from the scared fox and rising water to the doctor. "And who is this 'He' you are referring to, Eggman?"

The man eyed the striped hedgehog, taking him in. Eggman suspected that from his structure, this rat could run fast like Sonic, and that didn't help his situation at all. He needed a distraction so he could take the Master Emerald and leave. "That's none of your business." The doctor seriously didn't want to do this, but he had to. He pushed a hidden button under his desk and immediately a horde of Eggrobos flooded the room, surrounding the two Mobians. He guessed he could thank _him_ for this little addition, making robots drop down from the ceiling. Eggman then proceeded to press the self-destruct button on his desk, making a red light pulsate throughout the space. He took the heavy emerald and went over to the door behind him that was his emergency escape.

The doctor glanced back at the two Mobians. "You have ten minutes before this place blows." Eggman scrunched his eyebrows, thinking for a moment, before placing the remote controlling the trap room on the floor. He could at least do that so just in case they beat all the robots, they could retrieve their friend. He really didn't want to do this, but if he didn't keep the emerald…The doctor just wished it didn't come to that.

Shadow scowled when the sound of the other door shutting reached his ears. "Dammit."

Knuckles' expression copied the hedgehog's as he got in a ready stance. "How are we going to defeat all these? There's like fifty of them! Maybe more!"

"It won't be hard." The Ultimate Lifeform said as he glared at all of the robots. "Just attack their heads. The bad thing about this is that it's going to take a while to take down all of these."

Knuckles ran forward. "Then what are we waiting for?" After dodging a missile, the echidna jumped up and punched the bot's head right off its shoulders, making the body go down in a shower of sparks. Not wasting time to celebrate, he continued to evade and attack his side of the horde.

Shadow, hearing the short-circuiting piles of metal hitting the floor, began his attack as well. He gave a series of kicks and punches that decapitated the robots. Twisting and flipping in the air, the hedgehog evaded the multitude of missiles heading towards him. The duo fought with haste and because of that, they took a few hits that they wouldn't regularly. They both ignored the minor injuries; they didn't have time to deal with them right now.

4:46

The pair of Mobians were now panting as they surveyed the overall damage. There were scorch marks on the walls and floor. They could only see a bit of the floor damage because of the robotic bodies littered all over the surface.

After confirming that no more bots were functional, Shadow looked over at the screen to see Tails treading water that filled up three-fourths of the room. The hedgehog was happy to see that the fox was a good swimmer because it seemed that the kit had been treading for a while now. "Now that we're done here, we have to-"

"Already ahead of you." Shadow glanced at Knuckles across the room who was waving around the remote control that the doctor left behind. The echidna pressed the 'Deactivate' button and they saw the water automatically gush out of the room, taking Tails with it. Knuckles glanced down at the remote, confused to why it was still here. "I wonder why Eggman didn't take this." He focused on Shadow. "Not that I'm complaining, but I just think it's weird."

The Ultimate Lifeform thought it was a little off as well, but they couldn't stay here to dwell on it. "I don't know, maybe Eggman suddenly grew a conscious. But we literally don't have time to think about this right now." He waved the other over. "Come here."

Knuckles looked at him oddly, but did so anyway, maneuvering around the robots after putting the remote on the desk. When he was in arm's reach, Shadow grabbed the echidna's wrist tightly. Knuckles sighed, realizing what was going to happen next. "We're doing this again, aren't we?"

"Yes." Was the former guardian's only answer before he was lifted off his feet.

3:29

After encountering some dead ends, Shadow and Knuckles eventually made it back to Tails who was drying himself off. Sloshing through the shallow water, the older Mobians stopped in front of the kit.

"Are you alright, Tails?" The hedgehog asked, giving the fox a once over.

"Y-Yeah…" He answered, wringing out his tails. "What's with the red lights?" Tails then got a good look at the other two. "What happened?"

"We'll tell you later."

"This place is about to explode." Knuckles added, rubbing his wrist.

Tails tensed up. "S-Seriously?"

"Why would we joke about it?" Shadow took Tails' arm and said Mobian stared at him curiously. "I have to use my speed if we are going to get out of here in time."

2:15

"Okay…"

The hedgehog grabbed Knuckles' wrist again and blazed down the hallway, evaporating some of the water underneath his hover shoes.

Remembering the way back out this time, they exited the lab with little difficultly, but Shadow still didn't let them go.

1:04

The Ultimate Lifeform headed straight for the Tornad- erm…the Hurricane that was sitting a distance away just in case a lone robot was patrolling the outer perimeter as well. Now, the hedgehog wished they had grounded it closer so they could get out of the lab's blast range quicker. If he had been keeping track of time correctly, they had close to a minute to get out of here.

A short time later, the trio was climbing into and on the plane. Tails, trembling because of this whole crazy situation, couldn't start the plane up properly. He was so scared. What if they didn't get far enough from the lab? What would happen if they got caught in the blast radius? What-

0:39

"Tails." The kit glanced back at the Shadow on the wing. "You have to calm down so we can leave. Take deep breaths." Tails slowed down his breathing and followed the hedgehog's advice. "Good. Now start the plane so we can leave. Knuckles, we need you to tell us where Eggman went with the M.E."

The echidna furrowed his brow. "I can't feel it."

"What?"

He shook his head. "It's like something's blocking the energy." Knuckles groaned. "Because I was just there, Eggman must've put the Master Emerald in something so that I can't track it."

Shadow pinched his nose with his pointer finger and thumb. "Then we need to regroup with Amy and Rogue so they know what happened and so we all can come up with another plan. Ready, Tails?" After taking a second to calm his nerves, the fox nodded and turned on the plane, getting it moving.

0:27

It wasn't long until they got off the ground and gained altitude, heading back to Tails' home so they could drop the plane off before heading to Station Square. Shadow glanced over to Knuckles and sighed in exasperation when he saw the former guardian sprawled out in his seat, already nodding off.

0:15

Shadow turned his head to look back at the lab that was getting continuously smaller, mildly concerned that they weren't going to get the right distance away in time. He knew that they didn't have long. "Can you go faster, Tails?"

"I can…" The fox glanced back at him with a small frown. "But I don't want you to lose your balance."

"Do it." Shadow squatted down on the wing to reduce his surface area so the air wouldn't push him off. "Don't worry about me."

0:09

Tails nodded before pressing a series of buttons. The Hurricane immediately sped up drastically and Shadow narrowed his eyes against the onslaught of wind, willing to not take a tumble down to the hard unforgiving ground below. When he knew that he was safe, the hedgehog turned around once again to see the lab far in the distance, just a dot before the horizon.

0:01

Black furred ears twitched as red eyes reflected the huge explosion in the distance. A brilliant orange flared up before it was replaced with dark grey smoke, forming a mushroom cloud. Even though they were far away, the shock wave still hit them, causing the plane to wobble a bit before straightening out. Shadow watched as the smog dissipated into the air, not wanting to think about how close to death they were.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer- Lol, nope. I have absolutely no rights over these guys.**

**Chapter 15- Black and Blue**

A shrill ringing was disrupting the formerly quiet atmosphere of a small room, piercing the air with the noise. "Why won't he pick up?" Eggman was pacing back and forth in front of a communicating system in the main room of his second lab, much smaller than the first. Along with the irritation, the doctor was also upset with himself. He could just not inform the other of what happened and figuratively disappear, but he was too scared. It's like in the back of his mind, he knew that he didn't really have anywhere to hide and that he'd be found and punished. A cold shiver ran down Eggman's back. He couldn't let that happen...

The doctor let out a shaky sigh - he didn't know if it was a relieved one or not - when the call wasn't answered, for the fourth time.

Just when Eggman was about to walk away, a fairly large-sized screen by the telephone technology lit up. Curious, he went over to it and read the message on the screen.

_'I'm busy right now, so make it fast.'_

Eggman seriously didn't know that the computer could double as a texting device. Calming his nerves, he typed back a short reply.

'Lab #1 self-destructed.'

It took a minute for the doctor to get a reply.

_'So Plan A is obliterated. Good thing I thought of a Plan B like you never seem to do. What foiled A?'_

'Three infiltrators that tried to take the Master Emerald. A fox, the guardian, and a black hedgehog. Might be a friend of Sonic's.'

_'A friend of that rat? Hm...'_

Eggman didn't know how to reply to that, so he waited to see if there would be another message. He was right to wait.

_'I have a plan of my own, but I can't proceed in doing it unless Plan B is in full swing. You need to set it in motion. Get ready.'_

Eggman slumped his shoulders, regretting his next words.

'Yes Sir.'

* * *

On top of a popular gas station that also had a minimart inside, a specific blue hedgehog was sitting on the level black roof, dangling his legs over the side. He distractedly ate his favorite food, chewing cheese fries one at a time. His emerald eyes blankly stared down at the crowd of people walking on the sidewalks and the cars taking their time on the slightly narrow street in front of the building he was using as a seat. Even though he was seeing all of this, he wasn't really taking it in, lost in his thoughts.

He was Sonic the hedgehog, hero of Station Square. He protected it, saved it from that damned doctor…hell, he even controlled it to a degree. Sonic allowed a devious smirk to grow on his face, chuckling as he ate two more fries. It was true, and the hedgehog loved it. He could do whatever he wanted and no one would, or could for that matter, stop him. They all were scared, including the police. The hedgehog bathed in the fear, eating it up. Even now. Sonic had noticed that some of the people down below had seen him on the roof, but they looked away quickly as soon as they made eye contact with him. The blue Mobian barked out a laugh when a particularly nervous woman almost tripped over her own feet when she caught sight of him. It never got old.

Calming back down, Sonic finished up his basket before eyeing a trashcan on the concrete right below him. Holding the fry basket out in front of him, he closed one eye and stuck his tongue out, trying to aim correctly. When he thought he was aiming it in the right spot, Sonic tossed it and watched it fall an inch to the right of the can. Blinking, he shrugged and leaned back on his hands. Someone would get it up eventually.

Sighing, Sonic went back to his previous thoughts before he tried to make the almost impossible shot. Yeah, he could get away with anything besides murder and no one would do shit. Well, until this morning.

The hero frowned, bringing his hand up to feel the scab on his lip. He rubbed it with his forefinger, reliving the memories to how he got it. That black hedgehog…To be honest, he was legitimately surprised that the other threw the first punch. Did that striped hedg- you know what? He was going to call him Stripes. Did _Stripes_ know who he was? He couldn't have because if he had known who Sonic was, Stripes wouldn't have tried to boss him around. He must be new here, with his fucking morals. Now, because the hero won that fight, Stripes better not come around him again. Sonic wouldn't hesitate to put the other in his place, for a second time.

Leaning up some, the blue hedgehog reached around in his quills before pulling out his pocket knife. His frown disappeared when he recalled the look on Stripes' face when he put this sucker up to the black one's neck. It was priceless! The absolute horror that was shown couldn't be staged. Snickering to himself, Sonic unsheathed the blade and started to etch his initials onto the surface of the roof: 'STH'. He finished in about a minute. The grey letters stood out on the black shingles, showing the sky who had been here.

Proud of his handiwork, Sonic was about to jump down, but he spotted a group of Mobians coming toward the gas station. He didn't move from his spot, curious about this group made mostly of anthros he had never seen before. The girl with the pink fur seemed vaguely familiar, along with the white bat who was chatting with an unfamiliar green croc. A seemingly hyper bee was buzzing around a white hedgehog, chatting up a storm. Lastly, there was a purple chameleon who was taking in his surroundings.

Sonic stayed focused on the reptile, narrowing his green eyes a bit. Something seemed off about the chameleon, but he just didn't know yet. Then, unexpectedly, the reptiles' liquid golden eyes glanced up and locked with hard emeralds. As soon as their gazes met, Sonic's quills started to bristle as the tension rose in between them. The purple Mobian started to glare and the hero was almost taken aback. What's with this hostility? He was sure that he'd never seen this Mobian in his life. Was this another guy he had to beat down? Because he would do it in a heartbeat.

The tension immediately dissipated when the chameleon looked away in response to the bee shouting that he had to use the bathroom. The young bee flew to the door and yanked it open, disappearing from Sonic's sight. After a few of the group members face palmed, they all followed the bee into the convenience store. The purple reptile didn't spare him another glance.

Scowling, Sonic was thinking about following that jackass into the store to have a little 'discussion', but went against it. There was more room out here in the open.

After about three minutes, they were still in there. Sonic sighed as he dangled his legs back and forth over the ledge of the roof. He scoffed at the insane amount of time it took for that stupid kid to take a piss. Sonic suspected that the bee's wasn't the only one's bladder that was about to burst. In about a second, he was going to barge in there and have the little 'discussion' with that scaly Mobian, to hell with lack of room.

Sonic was about to jump down, but paused in his movements when another group of Mobians smaller than the first came walking down the street, seemingly searching for something, or someone. The blue hedgehog smirked when he recognized all of them. Stripes was in front with his arms crossed, walking slowly as he scoured the streets for whatever he was looking for. Behind him was that lazy echidna - Sonic had forgotten his name - who was shuffling along. It looked like his ass just got up. Finally was that two-tailed freak. The hero's smirk widened as he thought that the fox resembled at lost, kicked puppy. Remembering the healing scrape on his cheek, Sonic decided that he was going to have a little fun.

After returning his blade to his quills, the hedgehog dropped down off the roof as soon as the trio walked past, startling some of the nearby people. They immediately gave him some space. Inwardly chuckling, Sonic walked quickly to catch up to the three, which didn't take long at all because they were strolling down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. With a wicked smirk on his face, the blue hero casually lifted a finger and tapped the fox's shoulder, changing his voice to be as polite as possible.

"Excuse me, I would like to ask you a question." The kit jumped a bit at the sudden touch, but turned around anyway with a nervous smile on his face. Sonic watched in amusement as the smile slowly faded off the fox's face, absolute fear getting etched into his features. The genetic accident flinched and seemed to want to curl into himself when Sonic stepped closer, leering. "How was your sleep last night, huh freak? Bet yours was better than mine. _You_ didn't have to worry about getting blood on your pillow."

The fox started to shake violently, his tails wrapping around his body. Blue eyes were moistening up. "I-I'm…I-I s-said I w-was…S-Shadow!"

Sonic furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side some. Who in the heck was that? His internal question was answered when Stripes took a stand by the freak, said fox scurrying behind the black hedgehog. So Shadow's his real name? Heh, too bad.

The blue hero straightened back up and looked the other in his eyes. "Move your ass out my way, Stripes. You're interfering again."

"My name's Shadow the hedgehog." Sonic rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his hip, disregarding the scowl sent his way. Stripes' expression darkened when he saw this. "And I won't step aside while you harass Tails." Huh, the little mutation actually had a name. "So just leave him alone, or else."

Sonic blinked a few times, making a show of acting surprised. "Oh! Are…are you _threatening _me?" He copied the other's expression to a tee. The blue hero harshly jabbed a finger into a furry white chest, like he did earlier today. "That's funny, considering what happened last time." Sonic growled out, getting up in Stripes' face. He was going to put this little bastard in his place if it was the last thing he did. "Do I need to teach you a lesson? _Again?"_

Fire blazed in the ruby eyes opposing his and Sonic inwardly smirked, loving the fact that he was about to bask in the victory of this soon-to-be fight. Stripes' fists clenched and the blue hedgehog subtly prepared to dodge the incoming attack, but then the red echidna - completely forgotten about before this moment - put a gloved hand on the ebony hedgehog's shoulder.

"Let it go, Shadow." Red drawled out, giving Sonic a pointed gaze. "He wants you to lose your cool. Do you really want to make a scene out here?"

Red irises glanced over to where the hand was on his shoulder before locking gazes with the blue hedgehog, glaring hard. It took a couple tense moments, but Stripes breathed out deeply through his nose as he stepped back, turning his back on Sonic. "You're right. I shouldn't steep so low." He started to walk away. "We have to find Amy and Rogue."

Sonic crossed his arms and tapped his foot, clearly agitated. That stupid echidna…now he had to crank it up a notch. "What's the matter, Stripes? Earlier today you didn't hesitate to start a fight, now you can't make your own decisions?" The other hedgehog kept on walking, his entourage in step with him. An almost unnoticeable twitch of the ear told Sonic that Stripes was still listening though. "It's a shame, really. Who knew that you could be such a bitch?" He froze mid-step and the hero let a triumphant smirk grow on his muzzle, unable to keep it in this time. Hook, line, and sinker.

Stripes turned his head slowly back towards Sonic, sending him an ineffective death glare. Sonic could hear the deep growl resonating from the other's throat. "What in the _hell _did you say?" The hero knew that he was saying the right things because Stripy over there was ignoring his little friends, focused on him alone.

Vaguely noticing that the surrounding area was slowly clearing out because the citizens knew that something was going to happen, Sonic slowly sauntered forward, snickering. "Did I stutter? I said that you are a wussy, pansy-ass…" He was right in front of the other hedgehog at this point. "…_bitch._" The blue speedster smiled deviously as he quickly sidestepped a fast fist aimed at his face. Checkmate.

Because of the force Stripes put into that punch, the extra momentum caused him to stumble a bit and Sonic took the chance to jump up into the air, tucking himself to perform a spin dash. Letting lose, he thought that he was going to hit the black hedgehog square in the back of the head, but Stripes recovered quicker than expected and Sonic received a side full of foot. Grunting at the sharp pain that coursed through his body, the hero was sent flying to the right. Not anywhere close to being beat, Sonic twisted his body so that he landed on his feet, sliding back some.

Emerald eyes trained on the hedgehog a few yards away, hardening with focus. Scowling, Sonic ignored the pain in his side and sprinted over to the other, wanting to give him more bruises because the ones before seemed to heal already for some unknown reason. Stripes ran toward him as well, making them meet in the middle. Sonic aimed at kick to his doppelgänger's side – seeing how he would like it – and said Mobian aimed another punch to his face. They both hit, hard.

Sonic staggered back, the copper taste of blood entering his mouth. Frowning at the substance flooding in unwelcomed, he turned his head and spit out the red liquid, staining the sidewalk next to him with the stuff. After getting it all out, the speedster brought his hand up and rubbed his lips with his glove. He did all of this while staring at Stripes who was gritting his teeth while holding his right side. Even though he was hurt, Sonic was glad he got a good hit on the other.

Doing a quick glance of the area, the hero saw that all of the civilians were giving them plenty of room. They usually just ignored whatever he was doing to another person, because it was nearly an everyday occurrence, but they had never seen someone fight _back_ before. Red and the two-tailed freak were the closest to the fight, but they didn't look like they were going to join in. The echidna was looking up at the sky with an exasperated expression on his face, and the fox was too scared to do anything. Good. They didn't need to interfere.

Then, without warning, Stripes spin dashed him, traveling along the ground. After the initial surprise that someone else besides him could do that attack, Sonic copied the other, barreling straight toward the black hedgehog. They both were pushing their hardest so when they met head-to-head, the two Mobians bounced right off each other, going in separate directions with painfully thudding heads.

With an agonizing shout, Sonic landed on the ground harshly, skidding on his back. He could literally feel some of his fur being scraped off by the unforgiving cement. He lied there, cursing like a sailor under his breath, before standing back up, vision slightly swimming. His eyes widened when they registered a black blur coming his way. Relying on instinct, Sonic evaded the attack the last second while sticking out his foot. Yeah, he was being kinda cheap. What of it?

Stripes was sent head over heels into one of the minimart's large windows, smashing right through it. Glass shards followed him inside and Sonic could see that some cut the striped one's skin. He chuckled to himself, holding a hand on his forehead as he blinked a few times to focus his sight. When it was back to normal, the blue speedster pulled out his trusty blade, getting ready to teach the other why he shouldn't mess with the hero of Station Square.

"Shadow! Are you okay?!" Sonic paused, perking his ears at the sound of a girl's voice. He associated it with the pink hedgehog that went into the store earlier. Great, even _more_ people who could get involved.

Frowning at this new development, he twirled the handle in his hand before jogging over to the broken window. Looking inside, Sonic saw that Stripes was laying on the ground surrounded with shattered glass. The female hedgehog he was thinking about was hovering over the black one, not really knowing what to do. On Stripes' other side was a white bat with worry swirling in his teal eyes as he took in the hedgehog's condition. There were Mobians a bit of a distance away, looking at the downed hedgehog in different degrees of curiosity and concern. They were the remainder of the group he saw while sitting on the rooftop. The bee had a candy bar in his mouth, probably the reason they were taking so long. The other citizens in the store were getting their phones out, but a harsh look from Sonic made them gulp and return the devices to their pockets. Because the Mobians were so focused on Stripes, they hadn't noticed him yet.

Hearing a hiss, Sonic glanced over to the other hedgehog and grinned sadistically when he began to get up while plucking the glass out that had shallowly embedded into his skin. Stripes pushed the pinkette away when she tried to help him up, glaring at the blue hero. "Stay out of the way, Amy. You too Rogue, no matter what happens." He stood all the way up and Sonic chuckled to himself when his current victim winced when he pulled out a shard that went pretty deep. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine!" She put her hands on her hips, green eyes still examining the wounded one in front of her.

"Yeah!" Rogue gestured wildly at the black hedgehog's body. "You're freaking _bleeding_, dude! And why in the heck did you…" He locked eyes with Sonic and the smirk on the peach muzzle grew. The winged Mobian's voice got drastically softer. "…oh." All eyes were on the speedster now and he was soaking up all the attention.

Sonic tossed his blade from hand to hand, laughing while shaking his head. "Well, Stripes, looks like you have a little ragtag group of friends here." He watched as said Mobian glanced back to see the rest of his group. The blue hero's curiosity rose a bit at the surprised expression on Stripes' face before realizing that he didn't care in the slightest. "Too bad their going to witness you getting your ass beat, for a second time."

The one opposing him whipped his head around and scowled deeply. Hard emerald eyes clashed sharply with blazing red, but Sonic could also feel another glare on him, no doubt belonging to a certain reptile. He'll deal with him afterwards.

Sensing movement in his peripherals, Sonic glanced to his right to watch as the freak and echidna entered the store, the former hurriedly scurrying over to stand by Amy's side. What a low-life pansy.

However, it seemed that looking away was the worst thing to do in this situation because the next thing the blue hedgehog knew, was that he was being tackled to the ground. Hitting the cement on his back hard, a brief shock of pain went throughout his body and he had to bite his lip to keep from shouting out. Before he could recover, his knife was snatched out of his hand and thrown backwards, the bat catching it carefully. "_Fu__-" _Before Sonic could finish, his was sent to the side by a fierce punch causing more blood to fill his mouth. Another one hit his cheek, and another, and another.

"You need to know," punch, "that you can't," punch, "treat everyone," punch, "like the dirt you walk on!" Stripes grabbed his quills and yanked him up to almost a sitting position. Sonic tried to focus the two black hedgehogs in his vision, and when he did, he saw a heated glare and bared canines. "Especially me, _Faker._"

Faker?

Faker?!

Oh _hell no._

Even though his face was in so much pain that it felt numb, Sonic managed to spit saliva heavily mixed with blood into Stripes' eye; he gasped and let go of the blue hero to wipe the disgusting substance out of his eye. Sonic took his chance and bucked the other off of him, turning the tables.

He straddled Stripes and started to wail on his face, wanting to take back control of the fight. "Just in case you didn't hear me before," punch, "I run this city!" punch, "I control everyone in it! Even you," Sonic back handed the hedgehog under him hard, growling, "bitch!"

Sonic's doppelgänger then forcefully shoved him away, taking the speedster by surprise. He barrel rolled before hopping to his feet, watching as Stripes wobbly got back up on his own feet. Sonic grinned in satisfaction when the other wiped red stains off his own lips. This one was a toughie, but the hero thought that he was going to break this stubborn bastard soon enough.

"Shadow! Please let us hel-"

"No!" Stripes glanced sharply over to Amy and his other posse. "This is my fight. Stay over there."

"That's very fair of you." Sonic ignored his throbbing face. "Keeping this one on one." Stripes didn't say anything, his expression just darkened. "Giving me the silent treatment now, huh?" Sonic got into slight crouch, ready to sprint. "Doesn't bother me." He bolted straight for his adversary and ducked under a flying fist before grabbing white chest fur with both hands. The blue speedster smirked at a slightly panicked face for a split second before jumping up into the air, taking Stripes with him.

When they were both off the ground, Sonic spun in midair to gain momentum so he could throw his captive down to the concrete. He did precisely that, making Stripes bounce painfully on his side a couple times with a pained yell. As Sonic landed, it seemed that the ebony hedgehog wasn't done yet. He hastily sprung up like he hadn't just been thrown to the ground at a fast speed and zipped behind the hero. Stripes got a handful of azure quills and turned around quickly, picking Sonic off of his feet only to get slammed into a nearby gas pump. The speedster felt his body dent some of the plastic before he fell to the ground.

Even though his back protested greatly, Sonic struggled to get off the ground so he could rush this sonuva bitch and show him what for. It seemed like he was going to win too because Stripy over there was slightly slumped over and panting. Just when he was about to lunge, he froze. Literally. He couldn't move his body anymore. Glancing down at his body, Sonic realized he was covered with a cyan glow. No matter what he did, nothing would move.

Frowning, Sonic glanced up at Stripes to see if he was the cause of this. To his surprise, the black hedgehog wasn't looking at him, but at the group of Mobians who had followed them out of the store. Sonic followed his gaze and locked onto the white hedgehog who had a hand held out that was covered in the same colored glow he was. Whitey had a blank expression on his face.

"Ya know…" Rogue stared between the trapper and the trapped. "No matter how many times you do that, it still kinda freaks me out."


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer- The only thing remotely related to Sonic that I own is a blanket. They're both blue.**

**Oh, and the reason this chapter is so late is because Knuckles was in charge of it and you know how he is…**

**Knuckles: What are you talking about? Don't put this on me. **_**I**_** wasn't-**

**Yes you were. Hush.**

**Chapter 16- Plan B**

Ignoring Rogue's attempt to lighten the palpable tension in the area, Shadow stared at Silver with contradicting emotions fighting in his head. The black hedgehog was somewhat relieved that the psychic had stepped in and stopped Sonic for a moment because Shadow was a bit out of breath, heard from his panting. Also, his whole body hurt immensely; he wanted to take a second for him to regain his breath and for his advanced healing to kick in. Sonic didn't seem like he was going to grace him with that period until Silver took control of the situation with the powers he still had in this world. Don't get Shadow wrong; however, he was still ticked off that the younger one interfered. Just not how much he would've been normally.

Shadow then drifted his red gaze off Silver and onto the rest of the group that had appeared unexpectedly. The one standing closest to the white hedgehog was Charmy, who looked completely unfazed from seeing the other's powers. That wasn't what was off about this situation though. Vector and Espio, especially the former, were staring back curiously at the cyan glow. It's obvious that they weren't used to it, which they _should _be. Did…the Chaotix not know about Silver here? But then what about Charmy?

"What in the actual _fuck_?!

Sonic's loud outburst regained Shadow's attention. With a deep breath, the Ultimate Lifeform straightened up from his slightly hunched over form and glanced over at the floating speedster in askance. Before Shadow could open his mouth to speak, Sonic was smashed against the ground. A pained gasp filled the older hedgehog's ears. Sonic's head was turned, so he could see _and _hear Silver coming towards him, hand still outstretched. Shadow raised a brow and crossed his arms, waiting to see what this world's Silver had to offer. This one seemed more serious than the slightly childlike white hedgehog before.

Amy, Tails, and Charmy glanced at each other nervously, not really knowing what was going to happen. Silver was in one of his moods again. They might be worrying for nothing, but part of what's making them fret was the uncertainty. Anything could happen.

Espio and Vector watched silently, eyes trained on the advancing white hedgehog. They had witnessed Silver's unique power earlier when he cockily showed off some nifty tricks with floating cups or other random items while the group patrolled. Their curiosity peaked right now because of the fact that this was the first time the blue glow surrounded a living being.

Knuckles stared in awe. Sure, he wasn't very interested in the fight between the two speed demons – he had tried to stop Shadow but the other didn't listen – but this new development caught his hard-to-get attention. The ability of telekinesis was so…for lack of a better word, amazing.

Sonic scowled up at the other from the ground, glaring viciously. Hard emeralds locked onto cold yellows. The blue hedgehog was slightly unnerved by the blank look in those eyes, but continued to send daggers, refusing to show the cowardly behavior. Sonic tried to move one of his limbs to help pry himself off the hard concrete, but he still couldn't lift a finger. Gritting his teeth, he regarded the one standing above him, "What in the hell is this shit huh?" Sonic narrowed his eyes further. "If your ass wanted to fight me, then you should've waited 'til I was finished with Stripes over there." A smirk then appeared on his face. "You wouldn't have been waiting long." Sonic could feel the heat of Stripes' gaze, but it didn't bother him in the slightest.

After a moment, Silver squatted down to the speedster's level, one elbow laying easily on one knee. The other hand was still palm forward, radiating a light blue. His expressionless aura unchanging. He tilted his head marginally, staring at the loose cannon in front of him. "So that's what it is." Silver's detached tone shocked every single one of the Mobians. As long as Amy had known the white hedgehog, she had never seen him get like this. Shadow eyed Silver, not used to that tone being paired with the younger's voice. Sonic continued to bare his teeth, angry that he was absolutely helpless in this situation and that the other wasn't folding under his glare. Now he had another Stripes to deal with.

"What are you talking about, pot-head?"

Still no emotion. "You. I'm talking about you." Silver stood back up and lifted Sonic off the ground at the same time. "From the information I've been told, it's obvious you think you're better than everybody. That they have to bend to your will. I've just witnessed that first-hand."

Sonic scoffed, maliciously grinning. "Because it's true. I _am_ bett-" With a flick of the wrist, Silver sent the blue hedgehog flying into the nearest pump which was the one Shadow slammed him into not five minutes ago. Sonic let out a pained yell as his back was assaulted yet again, causing an unwanted shock to resonate throughout his nerves.

Silver released his hold and let Sonic drop to the ground. Groaning, the hero struggled to get up, his back complaining wholeheartedly. The white hedgehog watched with an aloof gaze as Sonic slowly got his feet under him. Wincing as he straightened up, the speedster was about to lunge at his adversary aiming to cause a black eye that would sharply contrast on the other's white face. Before he could make a move, however, his body froze again.

"I deem your statement invalid." Silver simply states, not caring really that he caused damages to both body and machine. "You say that you're better than everyone else, so did you let me throw you against the pump?" The psychic stared with half-lidded eyes. "Is that what happened?" He glanced over to Shadow briefly before returning to hate-filled emerald irises. "Did you let him beat you up on purpose? I would like to ask why, if you had." In his monotone, one could sense some sarcasm slipping through. It certainly wasn't lost on Sonic.

The blue hedgehog growled throatily, showing off his sharp canines. "Apparently, you're new here _pal. _So let me key you in on some important information." Sonic smiled; it was anything but inviting. It was nasty, wicked. "I control this city and _everyone in it._" The smile grew. "Even you. I could do anything to anyone and nothing will happen. Do you know why?" Sonic chuckled humorlessly. "Because they're _scared_. It's too bad that you didn't flock with the sheep. All I have to say is that you better watch your damn back cuz-"

Spinning around, Silver careened Sonic into the side of the store building. The blue hedgehog crashed into the side brick wall with another pained shout before slumping over. Scoffing, Silver let go of the other Mobian and watched dispassionately as Sonic fell down to the unforgiving ground below, out cold.

"S-Silver!" Charmy buzzed over in front of his friend with celerity. He waved his hands around as the white hedgehog placed a hand on his hip. "W-Why did you do that?!"

"His voice was annoying." Silver clipped before turning to the human audience a distance away still observing. "Show's over. Continue on." After some hesitation, the crowd began to peter out and continued along their way. Some had badly hidden grins on their faces.

Charmy scratched his head. "Okay…I guess it was…" He gestured wildly to the downed 'hog. "But did you have to knock him out?" Silver just shrugged. As long as the _hero_ wasn't dead, everything was fine.

Amy was the second to come up with Tails right by her side, slightly behind. "You really did go too far with that one, Silver." She chastised. "What if you seriously hurt him?"

The psychic raised a silver brow. "Would you care?" Amy opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She slowly closed it back. Silver nodded minutely. "Thought so."

Rogue then came over, Vector and Espio in tow. All three were still focused on Sonic before they gave Silver their attention. The bat scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say. The white hedgehog actually had been fun to hang with while they were walking around the city despite his quirks. But now…it's kind of awkward with the other so impassive. Kinda creepy too. "Aa…good job taking him out. Everyone knows he deserves it."

"He does." Espio chimed in, having gone back to glare at the speedster. "During the times I've visited this city, I've seen enough of what he does to dislike him greatly." The chameleon shook his head slowly, regarding the group. "You shouldn't feel remorse."

"You know…" Vector scratched his nose. "That wasn't what I expected from the hero of Station Square." He spared Sonic another glance. "Are we sure that's him?"

"That's him alright." Knuckles strolled up with his hands linked behind his head, yawning. Shadow was right behind him staring intently at Silver. "There aren't any more blue hedgehogs around here that are that loud and annoying."

There was a pregnant and slightly awkward pause between the newly formed group members before Amy clapped her hands together. "Alright, since we're all here together…" She blinked as she pointed over to the Ultimate Lifeform. "…we need to know how your part of the plan went. Spill the details, Shadow."

"Shadow?" Silver focused on the black hedgehog. "You're the Shadow that Amy's been telling us about?" The ebony Mobian nodded slowly, confused to why Silver had a personality again. The white hedgehog smiled widely and laughed. "Really? Great! If you're back now, that means that you socked Eggman a good one, yeah?" Shadow and Knuckles stood there dumbfounded while the rest of the group sweat dropped at the timing of Silver's sudden turnaround. The Ultimate Lifeform eyed the white hedgehog, wondering if the other was alright in the head. Knuckles just sighed, thinking that this kid was going to take some extra energy – which he didn't have – to be around.

Shadow shook his head, inwardly sighing in relief when his face showed signs of healing. "We confronted Eggman, yes, but he got away with the Master Emerald when he dropped a multitude of robots on us to fight."

Amy gasped before focusing on her little bro. "Tails! Did you get hurt? Please don't tell me you was in the middle of that!"

The kit shook his head and gave a shy smile. The number of eyes on him now were a bit overwhelming. "N-No…I wasn't even in the room when it happened. I w-was-"

"Waiting in the plane for us." Shadow intervened, not wanted to deal with a furious Amy with that hammer of hers right before he was all the way healed. He gave Tails a meaningful look. "He was outside, out of harm's way."

Amy frowned and pulled out her hammer anyway. "Wait?! You left him outside _by himself?_" Knuckles watched gladly as the crazy girl advanced only on Shadow, bypassing him completely. "Didn't I tell you to _have his back?"_ She raised up her weapon threateningly and Shadow was about to dodge, but Charmy zoomed over and snatched it out of her hands.

"Come on now!" The bee then proceeded to get grounded by just the weight of the weapon. "Oof…this is heavy!" Charmy tried to take flight again, but that wasn't happening. He focused back on Amy. "There's no need for violence! Look!" He pointed to Tails. "He's just fine! No need to get upset!"

"But he could have-"

"But he didn't!" Charmy replied cheekily and Amy sighed.

"Fine, I'll let it pass _this _time." She said, weakly glaring at Shadow while taking back her precious hammer.

Said Mobian nodded. "Duly noted."

"So what's going to happen now?" Espio asked, adjusting one of his gloves. Alright, it seemed that the Chaotix hadn't changed much, except for the fact that the reptiles didn't really converse with the bee. Was it because they didn't know each other? It's completely plausible because Amy didn't know Knuckles or Rogue. "The plan failed because Eggman still has the Master Emerald."

"Yeah…What _are_ we gonna do now?" Rogue, still holding Sonic's knife, looked at it for a moment before tossing it into the nearby trash can, where it couldn't harm anyone else. "We were all banking on you guys getting the emerald back, but now…"

Vector stretched, cracking his back. "Well, since Eggman still has the – OH SWEET CHAOS! THE CITY'S BEING INVADED!" The group then turned to where the reptile was wildly pointing before gasping at the horde of robots making their way down the wide street. The citizens were yelling in fright, scattering to get to their homes to hide from the mechanical terrors.

Shadow gritted his teeth as he watched both grounded and airborne bots storm Station Square. The ebony hedgehog just knew in his gut that Eggman was going to try something, especially now that the Master Emerald was his possession. Black ears twitched when they heard sobbing coming from behind him. Glancing back, he was mildly surprised to see Silver on his knees with his head in his hands. With every sob a shudder wracked his body.

"What in the world is wrong with this kid?" Knuckles muttered under his breath before returning his lazy gaze onto the oncoming robots. He was seriously resisting the urge just to ignore all of this and let the others handle it so he could go catch some z's he was still missing, but he _guessed_ he should help the others.

"Get up Silver!" Charmy buzzed around the white hedgehog's head with a worried expression on his face. He punched and kicked the air. "We gotta fight! Boom boom pow!"

Silver lifted his head up, showing his wet eyes, and gestured to the buckets of bolts. "How can we fight all of them!? There's gotta be hundreds!" He slumped over and sniffed. "We're all doomed…"

Vector rolled his eyes. "Great optimistic attitude ya got there. You would be a great – OH SWEET CHAOS AGAIN! EVERYBODY DUCK!" The group of Mobians did so only for a missile to soar over their heads right into the store behind them. Nothing happened for a second before the whole building exploded. Sonic went flying into a neighboring building, various debris cutting his skin. Still unconcious, he slid down to the hard ground once more.

"Oh my gosh…" Amy's green eyes were wide in fear as she shakily got back up. "There were _people_ in there!"

"And they're dead!" Silver shouted out, more tears streaming down his face. "What did I tell you?"

"Focus!" Shadow growled out, not looking at them but at the sizable robot that had noticed them and shot the projectile, its red eyes glowing. "We are going to have to fight!" He glanced back to Silver. "Whether we like it or not." He faced forward again, glaring at the machine. "Here's the plan: All of us will stay here and protect the city. All except Tails, Charmy, and Knuckles."

Tails whimpered at the fact that he's going to be separated from his big sis again, Charmy clapped his hands excitedly, and Amy furrowed her brow. "What are you-"

"Tails, you take Charmy and go back to your house." Shadow continued like he hadn't heard Amy. "Your means of fighting includes the Tor-Hurricane. You have weapons stored in there, right?" The fox nodded hesitantly. "Good. You and Charmy will take the bots out from the air, got it? Knuckles, you go with them just in case robots give chase." The echidna hummed in affirmation, but Amy wasn't happy about this at all.

"Whoa whoa! Wait a second! I don't like this plan at all!"

"You have something else, Rose? Because I'm all ears." She grumbled under her breath, but she said nothing. "Now that's settled, we have to take action. Let's go!" The group members, after Silver sighed in defeat, dispersed to either fight the bots head on or left to go get the plane.

However, when they separated, no one seemed to notice the ghost of a smirk growing on a specific person's face.

'_Plan B's in full swing. Now I just have to start my own.'_


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything related to Sonic the hedgehog. **

**Chapter 17- Cream Cheese**

Away from the intruding robots stomping and swooping down into Station Square, a purple little kitten yawned and stretched as a commotion from outside woke her up from her cat nap. Blinking her golden eyes open, Blaze mewed softly from the couch she was comfortably laying on before her lavender ears swiveled to pinpoint the voices coming from outside. She lifted her head when the door leading to the garage opened up. She sat up and meowed happily when one of her owners flew through the door.

"Wait a minute guys! Just let me check on Blaze!" The bee then looked around a bit before zeroing in on the kitten. Smiling, he buzzed over and petted her back, earning a soft purr. Charmy laughed as he picked the feline up into his arms, scratching behind her ears. Blaze snuggled happily into his hold and got comfortable just when the bee placed her back on the couch.

The purple cat looked up at her owner with a confused expression and Charmy felt a little bad. "Don't worry Blaze! We'll be back soon, alright?" She tilted her head cutely, staring at the bee. "Glad you understand!" The insect paused to think for a moment before flying over to the nearest window. "I'll let a little breeze in so you won't get too hot while we're gone." He pulled the glass up a bit until he felt cooling winds. "Okay!" He mock saluted to a curious Blaze. "See ya later!"

The lavender kitten watched as Charmy left out of the door he came in from. Because she didn't feel sleepy anymore, she stood up on the padded couch and hopped down, making her way to the wall with the slightly open window. After shaking her rear in the air while estimating the height, Blaze jumped up, aiming for the sill. She was just a little short. Only her front paws made it above the white sill, so she unsheathed her sharp claws to get a good grip. After a short while of wiggling her lower body, Blaze got her left hind leg up to meet her front paws and the other followed quickly.

Content that she had made it, the feline sat on her haunches and glanced outside just in time to see a red bi-plane with her owner, a fox, and an echidna occupying it fly off toward large buildings in the distance. Blaze watched her owner disappear with growing loneliness. She was fine before because she was able to sleep off the feeling of being alone, but now she was wide awake and had to face it head on. Blaze didn't like that one bit.

Pawing at the crystal clear glass, the kitten yowled as loud as her immature vocal cords would let her. When she realized that her voice wasn't bringing the plane back to the home, Blaze eventually quieted down her high-pitched caterwauls, lavender ears drooping a miniscule degree. As the young cat gazed sadly as her only entertainment flew away, a cool breeze weaved between the furs of the bottom half of her legs. Blaze cocked her head down at the space between the glass and sill before ducking her head toward the open air, taking a sniff.

When the multiple scents attacked her juvenile nose, the feline then and there decided that she wasn't going to stay in the house a minute longer. She was going to find her owners. Blaze then proceeded to flatten herself against the platform she's on and tried to crawl through the space. She only got her front paws to the other side. Mewing in determination, the purple kitten withdrew her limbs before turning her whole body to the side and shuffling through the space. When she squeezed her head past the glass, she knew that she was home free. The problem the first time was that the small pet couldn't fit her furry upright head through.

She finally escaped the room…and promptly tumbled down a few feet.

With a started yelp, Blaze attempted to right herself in the air, but her coordination wasn't the best yet and she ended up landing on her side. She stayed lying down for a moment to regain her senses before standing back up on all four legs and shaking that little fall off.

Blaze took a couple steps to check if she had any bad injuries. When the feline deemed herself healthy enough to go on her search, she trotted off to the small forest that separated her from the city in danger. Blaze enjoyed the feeling of the short grass of the clearing under her paws until she got to the edge of the clearing, the orange evening sun warming up her back. Golden eyes looked up and scanned all of the huge trees before shifting down and eyeing the foliage in front of them. After giving the low leaves a safety sniff to see if there were any nearby dangers, Blaze glanced back at the cozy but empty home behind her before ducking into the green, not sensing any malevolent beings.

The lavender kitten crawled under low bush branches, the dirt grasping onto her fur – she was going to have to clean herself later – and feeling instantly cooler as the trees and their large leaves blocked the warm sun. When the thick line of bushes ended, Blaze stood up and continued forward, pretty sure that this was the way the airplane went.

As she mentally went along her mentally shaped path, curious eyes absorbed in their surroundings. When there were spaces in between leaves, streams of sunlight filtered through the canopy and decorated the ground and lower plants in golden spots. As Blaze approached one of said spots, she slowed down before completely stopping in front of it. She bent down and put her left paw in the light, awed to when her white appendage now had a yellow tint to it. She took it out and her paw was immediately back to its original color. Meowing happily, Blaze was about to do it again, but the spot disappeared for a swift moment before reappearing. Then it happened a second time. The kitten gazed at the yellow light confusedly until she heard tweeting overhead.

Blinking, Blaze lifted her head up to see multi-colored birds flying from tree to tree, seemingly having various intraspecies conversations amongst themselves. The escaped pet observed them for a moment before continuing on her quest, growing bored with the loud feathered flyers.

Moseying along, the feline took in other beauties like random patches of flowers of many colors (of those she _could_ see anyway) and different sizes. They varied from ones as tiny as Blaze's paw to towering over her head. The kitten passed over those however, thinking that she'll come back to this place later to explore more in the company of her owners.

After traveling and observing the normal occurrences and species of the forest for some time with no note-worthy events, Blaze nearly jumped onto the trunk of the nearest tree when something landed on her nose and almost obstructed her entire view. Going slightly cross-eyed focusing on the thing in her vision, the feline recognized it as a butterfly with big blue wings. She shook her head slightly, and, like she planned, the insect took flight and flew away from her.

Blaze stared after it, tempted to give chase. After weighing the option for a millisecond, she ran after the fluttery butterfly, occasionally leaping into the air to swat at it. Straying away from her planned path, Blaze hunted the insect and focused solely on it as she jumped up to grab it, only for the butterfly to slip from her grasp. She was so tuned into her small predator instinct that the kitten didn't realize that she was getting closer and closer to a running creek until it was too late. When Blaze pounced again, she yelped in surprise when her paws didn't meet gritty dirt and slick blades of grass, but chilled water.

She immediately went under and she, almost as quickly, held her breath. The kitten flailed around in the opposing liquid as it carried her downstream. Miraculously, with all the movement, Blaze's head broke the surface and she let out a helpless wail. The landscape went by fast as she continued to tumble, yowling out when she could.

Eventually, the current slowed down enough for the slightly disoriented feline to drag herself out of the water. Back on dry land, Blaze shook and mewed pitifully as her frame trembled from the winds that weaved through the forest. Realizing that there was no one around to pity and comfort her – and most importantly dry her off – Blaze resumed her quest, the sun, slowly but surely, replacing the job of a soft towel.

After ten minutes, the purple cat was still in the forest. Blaze was about to sit down and meow to the listening world that she was hopelessly lost, but then her sensitive ears perked up when she heard the extremely familiar sounds of a busy city. With newfound energy, Blaze trotted with celerity for a couple more moments before she stuck her head out of a bush to see the city infinitely closer. There was a road to her left that winded into the metropolis, which had black smog rising out of various parts of it. The sounds of shouts, yells, and creaking gears filled the air.

Mewing happily and ignoring the signs of danger in the metal jungle, Blaze did one more good shake to get rid of any leftover droplets of that dreaded water. She then made her way into the invaded city, avoiding the road that was unusually empty. Any road she saw had noisy horns and impatient drivers, but this one was different. Blaze ignored it though, too focused on reuniting with her owners. Especially the white one. He gave the best hugs.

Entering Station Square's limits, Blaze unintentionally avoided the war zone of flying missiles, soaring robotic parts, airborne attacks, and one dangerous hammer by trotting into the back alleyways of the city. Blaze sneezed when she got a good whiff of gas and oil, but she didn't let that deter her. She was a feline on a mission.

Walking down an alley neighboring a restaurant, the kitten eyed the occasional rotten piece of food lined up against the walls before sticking her nose up at them. At home, she was treated like a queen, and was fed like one. Blaze never had slop, but the finest canned kitten food. Another reason she loved her owners so much.

The feline's lucky streak was then broken when she was halfway down the narrow street. A giant explosion that made the ground tremble nearly made Blaze fall over. Looking up in front of her, she saw at the end of the alleyway that connected to the main street a giant robot fighting – Wait. Was that her owner?

Blaze slowly stood up from her crouched position she always got into when something started her and pricked her ears up from their place flattened against her head. Golden eyes blinked and focused on the being fighting the moving metal that _looked_ like the white hedgehog, but wasn't. He was black with red stripes, eyes matching the color of the latter. Also, he didn't have quills on his forehead and the ones on his head were folded up. He had scorch marks that were visible, but the injuries didn't seem to impair him that much. It was a hedgehog alright, just not the one Blaze was looking for.

The small kitten watched as the Mobian easily destroyed the robot before quickly moving out of sight. Blaze stood still for a second, making sure that there were no other loud noises that might send her scurrying. When there weren't any close by, the feline was about to take a step forward until she heard footsteps behind her.

"Oh look! A kitty!" Blaze tensed when she felt hands grab her midsection from behind. She was about to unsheathe her trusty claws until the hands started to massage her from under her front legs. That being her weakness, Blaze relaxed and began to purr. The person behind her chuckled. Their voice was like a wind chime. "I'd knew you like that!"

Blaze was then turned around to become face-to-face with a young stranger. Holding her at an arm's length was a cream rabbit with cinnamon-brown eyes. She had yellow and orange shoes on matching her tangerine colored dress. Her long ears were tied up in a pony-tail by a light blue tie that looked like it should go around the collar of the girl's dress.

Fluttering around the girl was a blue flying thing that Blaze had never seen before. Its head, arms, and legs were tinted yellow and there was a floating sphere above the first body part of the same color. There was a red bandana wrapped around the thing's head. The next thing that Blaze noticed was that the blue being was glaring and frowning at her, and, of course, her natural reaction was to hiss.

Cream stared between the kitten she just found and Cheese before sighing. "Stop it Cheese…" When her pet didn't seem like he had heard her, the rabbit held the kitty closer to her body with one arm and flicked the Chao's forehead with the other. "What did I just say?"

Cheese gasped before rubbing his head gingerly, redirecting his glare onto Cream. He then crossed his arms and grumbled something that anyone else would think was gibberish, but the rabbit understood perfectly. "Sorry, geez…"

Cream huffed before giving her attention back to the little feline held in her arm who seemed to calm down as well. The rabbit leaned a bit closer when she saw a pet collar around the purple neck, but no tags. "Hm…She has to be looking for someone…Don't you think Cheese? She has a collar."

The Chao scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I met her the same time you did. You seriously think I'd know the answer?" He replied snidely.

Cream rolled her eyes. "Chaos, I was just asking a simple question. There's no need for all that attitude."

Cheese scoffed and glanced away from her. "Tch, whatever."

The rabbit placed a hand on her hip. "You act like you're jealous of the cat or something!" The Chao gave her a shifted glance. Cream blinked before grinning. "Wait a minute, you are! Don't worry Cheese." She patted her pet on the head and took it away before she was swatted at. "She's not gonna replace you." Cheese relaxed ever so slightly before Cream continued, "Not yet, anyway."

The Mobian giggled when the glare increased ten-fold before shrugging it off. She glanced down at the purple cat. "Alright, kittly, you're in luck." Sensing that she was being spoken to, Blaze glanced up. She always did that, even if she only understood one percent of the english language. On a good day. Cream gave her a wide smile. "We're looking for some people too. Maybe we'll run into your owner on the way." The only words Blaze got out of that were 'looking' and 'owner' so, putting the pieces together that this rabbit and the other…thing was going to take her to her owners, she mewed happily. Cream petted the kitten softly. "Great! Let's go meet the others Cheese." She turned on her heels and began back down the alleyway, the Chao trailing her. "They said we have a surprise in store for us!" The rabbit flinched when another explosion filled the air. "Maybe we'll have to go somewhere else to do it though…"

Cheese groaned from behind her, tempted to pull the cat's tail to see her satisfying reaction. "Do we really have to take the stupid cat?"

"What if it was the other way around? Would you want me to leave you on the streets where you could possibly be exploded into bits?"

"Grumble…grumble…"

"Thought so."

About five minutes later, Cream turned onto a familiar looking ally and immediately was surprised, along with Cheese, when there was no one waiting there. The rabbit looked up at the sun. "It's around six…so why aren't they here?"

"Don't know." Cheese flew over to the nearest garbage can and spotted a piece of paper. "Hey wait…" He grabbed it and flew back over to Cream, holding the sheet up to her. "I think they left this."

The bunny raised an amused brow. "You think? What, you don't see that it obviously says 'To Cream and Cheese'?"

A tick mark formed on the Chao's head as he let the letter fall for Cream to grab out of the air. "You know I can't read." He growled out.

"The exact reason I tease you about it." The rabbit chuckled before reading the words on the paper out loud after clearing her throat.

"_To Cream and Cheese,_

_We're gonna have to put your little surprise on hold. This morning we caught wind of a lot of tracks that had just been built a few day's journey away. We sorry that you couldn't go, but we had to get there first to claim our turf. Ya know what I mean? So yeah, sorry. We should be back in a week or something like that. The place is like the ultimate vacation spot! Don't worry though, you'll get your EG as soon as we get back. I'll make sure to train ya myself and not let these other two amateurs rub their badness on ya. _

_Stay fly_

_-Jet"_

Cream threw her head back and groaned as she crumpled the paper single-handedly. "Great! They've been hinting at it for weeks and now that the time's come, I can't have my own yet! Not fair…"

"How do you think I feel?" Cheese took the ball from her hand and threw it into the garbage bin. "Storm said that he could get a custom one for me! Man, this blows."

The rabbit sighed and scratched her nose. "Now we gotta go home and tell Mama that my 'playdate' with my friends on the 'playground' was canceled." She stomped her foot angrily. "I was soo looking forward to riding too!"

Cheese reluctantly untied the red bandana around his head before wrapping it around his neck and making it into a bow tie. Seeing that Cream couldn't use both of her hands, he floated over to her and let loose her ears, knotting a blue tie around her dress collar. He glanced down at the purple cat and pointed to her. "What are we gonna do with that, anyway?"

Cream flicked him on the head again. "I'm so glad I'm the only one who hears how rude you are. Mama would have a fit." Vanilla always had a no attitude policy in her house; she had enough bad personalities at her job as a GUN agent. _I wonder if she's gonna get called for duty today…the city is kinda getting invaded._ The rabbit shrugged at Cheese's question. "I don't know actually. We can't just leave her here, but I don't know if Mama wants-" Cream was cut off at the sound of metal crunching and grinding against concrete.

The trio in the ally turned their heads in the direction of the main street to see a robot surrounded in a blue glow get pounded repeatedly into the ground by a giggling white hedgehog. Seeing her owner, Blaze tried to wriggle out of Cream's grasp to no avail.

The bunny glanced between the kitty and the slightly crazy hedgehog. "He's your owner?" Her only answer was more wiggling. "Alright, if you say so. I'll get you back when he's done-" Cream was interrupted yet again when the white psychic Mobian suddenly blacked out and dropped to the ground.

Cheese slowly blinked. "What in the heck just-" Cream quickly shushed him when the cause of the white one's fall came into view. Or rather, _appeared_ would be the better term.

A purple chameleon faded into view right beside the hedgehog, hand still situated like it was meant to pinch. The reptile's yellow eyes looked at the white Mobian disdainfully, like the hedgehog was irritating gum on the bottom of his shoe. "I don't need you to get in the way of our plans." Cream heard the other say in a flat voice. The chameleon crossed his arms. "You're the last one." He tisked. "All of you are idiots, and ridiculously easy to sneak up on. The ones in the plane were a tad more difficult, but a well-aimed missile solved that problem."

Cream watched numbly as a horde of machines carrying other unconscious Mobians, a blue hedgehog – _Sonic got caught? …I don't know how I feel about that – _a black hedgehog that stirred something in her brain but was quickly ignored, a bee, a fox, a pink hedgehog, a croc, a bat, and an echidna, came into view. A robot picked up the white Mobian too.

The reptile smirked cruelly at all of them before standing in front of Sonic. "You were the easiest one to get, since Silver already did my job for me. A mistake on his part."

"Master Espio." One of the bots spoke. "What do we do with the prisoners?"

Espio chuckled darkly. "There's an abandoned prison two hundred miles south of here. Take them there. Lock them up. I've got to get a few things from Eggman before I can pay them a little visit." After he shooed them off, the smirk melted off his face. "Now I have to find that failure of a scientist among all this…" The chameleon then ran off.

It was all quiet in the alleyway until Blaze started to yowl and Cream turned to Cheese with a determined look in her eyes. The Chao shook his head wildly. "Oh no no no! We are _not-"_

"Come on, Cheese! We have to save them! All we have to do is sneak out when Mama goes on night duty-"

"No means no Cream! That's too dangerous!"

"Oh? Says the guy who wants to ride their EG down the side of a building?"

"That's different!"

"How?"

"_I won't die doing it!_" There was a brief pause. "...Most likely."

Cream huffed, turned around and headed in the direction of their home, taking Blaze with her. "Well if you won't, I will!"

Cheese threw his arms in the air. "You know I can't let you do that alone!"

"Then go with me later! It's that simple."

After having an internal battle with himself, the Chao reluctantly followed. "Fine…" Cheese hovered over her before settling on Cream's head. "You know that we're not gonna be back before Vanilla gets off from her night duty. Two hundred miles isn't a walk in the park, you know. What's gonna be our cover story?"

The rabbit shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Genius plan." Cheese replied sarcastically. _This is totally going to blow up in our faces..._

* * *

**Couldn't wait to introduce those two! XD**

**Also, this chapter's title is partially inspired by an awesome cupcake I had earlier with cream cheese icing...I want another one now...**

**One more thing, just know that Cream's around eight-ish right now. I thought six was a _bit_ too young for her role this story. **


End file.
